Australian state sparks outrage over major treaty measure: ‘Stop wasting money’
NSW Premier Chris Minns has been criticized for pushing ahead with plans for a treaty with Indigenous Australians despite last year’s defeat of The Voice.
Warren Mundine, an indigenous leader who opposed the referendum, urged Mr Minns to “stop wasting money”. He said a treaty would not solve the problems within the Aboriginal community.
“It’s not going to help anyone, it’s just a total waste of time,” he said. “Stop these stupid, stupid conversations.”
Mr Mundine, who started as a Labor political operative before later running for a seat as a Liberal, said NSW should instead “start looking at the crime rate”.
“Let’s start getting education, let’s start getting jobs and addressing the government issues that need to be done,” he told Sky News.
On Friday, the state government appointed three commissioners to organize a one-year ‘listening tour’ of the state.
This tour will look at whether the state’s indigenous communities want a treaty and how it should work if they do.
But Mr Mundine dismissed the plan as a waste of money and time.
NSW is being criticized for pushing ahead with plans for a treaty with Indigenous Australians despite losing the Voice to Parliament referendum last year
“A look at their record so far shows that like the Voice campaign, they went on a ‘listening tour,’ and they didn’t listen because they were flogged in that vote,” he said.
‘My advice to Chris (Minns) is: come on mate, stop wasting money. We know what the problems are within Aboriginal communities.
‘We know how to fix and improve things. Organizing these talkfests is just a waste of time, and even if you continue with it, it should be a voice for the people of NSW.”
NSW is following in the footsteps of other states in pursuing a treaty.
Victoria was the first to introduce legal frameworks for an Indigenous treaty in 2018, with Queensland, Tasmania, the ACT and Northern Territory also looking at drafting their own treaties.
South Australia passed legislation for a state-based vote in March 2023.
But Mr Mundine said state treaties would not help solve the problems facing indigenous communities.
NSW is following in the footsteps of other states in pursuing a treaty
“None of them (states pursuing treaties) are going to solve anything, I can tell you that now,” he said.
“All it … is going to do is fix the hip pocket of the people who are in those communities.”
He pointed out that in the Australian First Nations Voice to Parliament election in South Australia in March, more than 90 percent of eligible Indigenous voters did not vote.
“We only saw in South Australia… 10 percent of Aboriginal people actually voted in that election, 90 percent didn’t. That’s a big one… “No, we don’t want this,” he said.
In Victoria, the First People’s Assembly held elections in 2019 and 2023.
But the Assembly, which must negotiate a treaty with the state government, has had very low turnout, with only 7 percent of eligible voters doing so in 2019 and 10 percent in 2023.
Mr Mundine told Sky News presenter Danica di Giorgio that it is pointless to find other ways to get a treaty after the referendum was so completely rejected, with 60.06 percent of people voting no.
“It divides the community. The community has already voted. They voted on the Vote and it was very clear that the treaty was in that Vote,” he said.
‘They made it very clear: ‘No, we want to come together as a nation, we don’t want to be divided.’
The three people appointed to work on the NSW treaty process are former senator Aden Ridgeway, academic Dr Todd Fernando and Naomi Moran, editor of the Koori Mail newspaper.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Chris Minns for comment.
