Nation must ‘choose courage’ as it enters treaty era
Australia stands on the threshold of a new era.
Ngarra Murray, co-chair of the First People’s Assembly of Victoria, says this is a period in which the true history of the nation is acknowledged and the relationship between First Nations and non-Indigenous peoples is reset.
Ms Murray, who delivered the 25th Dr Charles Perkins Lecture in Sydney on Tuesday night, said the whole country was on the brink of history as Victoria prepared to enter into a settlement.
“We stand on the threshold of a new era, the era of agreement,” said the Wamba Wamba, Yorta Yorta, Dhudhuroa and Dja Dja Wurrung woman.
“This is not a small step. It is a break in the national story, a change in power, a promise that tomorrow may be different from yesterday.”
The Yoorrook Justice Commission, which preceded treaty negotiations in Victoria, was the first truth-telling in the country but Ms Murray said it would not be the last.
If a deal could be signed in Victoria, other jurisdictions could begin the process, Ms Murray said, calling on states, territories and national MPs to put politics aside and “choose courage”.
“The treaty is a commitment to truth, justice and a common future,” he said.
“This is how we begin to reset the relationship between Blak and White.”
Ms Murray said Australia’s failure to make agreements with First Nations people to date was not a coincidence but was by design.
He said the country’s lack of agreement for 250 years was “a wound in the heart of the nation”.
“This country is not our people, the people who came here chose not to make a deal and our people paid the price for it,” Ms Murray said.
“The treaty is about righting this injustice… We’ve fought long and hard for this since the day the white man came, right up until now.”
Noting the work of her speech’s namesake, Charles Perkins, and her own grandfather, Sir Doug Nicholls (both pioneering campaigners for indigenous rights), Ms Murray said we owed it to our ancestors to continue the fight for justice.
“The treaty has not been an easy journey,” he said.
“It has required courage, sacrifice and tireless work from leaders and communities across our countries.
“The agreement is here thanks to the resistance of our people who never give up.”
