Victoria says $776 million treaty negotiations claim ‘cherry-picked', but $308 million spent since 2020

News.com.au

a day ago

The Victorian government has hit back at 'cherry-picked analysis' that claimed it has spent more than $776 million on treaty negotiations since 2016.
The Institute of Public Affairs (IPA), a conservative think tank, on Sunday published analysis of spending items in Victorian government budget documents relating to treaty or 'self-determination' initiatives.
The report claimed Victoria had spent $776.2 million on programs related to the development of a state treaty since 2016, with $100.6 million committed in the 2026 financial year alone and $220 million in the first two full financial years following the defeat of the Voice referendum.
'This is cherry-picked analysis from a Liberal Party-aligned think tank,' a Victorian government spokesperson said.
'If you listen to the people directly affected by policies, you get better outcomes — that's common sense. Treaty is about making a better and fairer state for all Victorians — negotiations are underway and we look forward to bringing Treaty to the Parliament.'
The government would not confirm the IPA's figures, but noted $308 million had been invested into the Treaty since the 2020-21 budget, according to publicly available annual reports.
Analysis of annual reports and budget papers by the Herald Sun put the figure at $382.4 million over the past 10 years.
Some of that funding has gone into setting up the Treaty Authority, an 'independent umpire' created by the First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria and the State of Victoria to oversee the process.
The Herald Sun reported in 2023 that members of the Treaty Authority panel could be paid a salary of up to $380,000 per year plus expenses if they worked full-time.
The Victorian government first committed to advancing a treaty with Indigenous Victorians in 2016. Negotiations formally began in November 2024, and Victoria plans to finalise a treaty by the end of the 2026 financial year.
Victoria would be the first Australian jurisdiction to negotiate a formal treaty with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
But the IPA said Victorians remained largely in the dark about what a treaty would entail, despite the hundreds of millions of dollars spent and hundreds of meetings held since 2017 in preparation for negotiations.
'Despite the Victorian government spending in excess of $776 million on secret treaty negotiations, mainstream Victorians are none the wiser as to what special rights and reparations it will grant to some Victorians based solely on race,' IPA research fellow Margaret Chambers said in a statement.
The report noted that between July 2016 and June 2025, 727 meetings had been held by the Victorian government in relation to the development of a treaty — but just four public statements had been issued and the 'substance of these negotiations remains largely undisclosed'.That number included meetings between First Peoples' negotiating parties and the state of Victoria to negotiate or prepare for Treaty agreements, and meetings with departments to support whole of Victorian government co-ordination and engagement in Treaty negotiations.
'The Victorian government is not being honest and upfront with Victorians about its plan to divide the community by race,' Ms Chambers said.
'With a treaty scheduled to be finalised in the next 12 months, and despite the volume of secret meetings over the past decade, very little is known about what this treaty will entail.
'Any treaty will fundamentally change Victoria's legal structure and will likely require already financially stretched Victorian taxpayers to pay billions of dollars to activists aligned to the Allan government.
'Yet, for a government which operates one of the most sophisticated and well-funded spin machines ever seen, just four statements, totalling 1588 words, have been released on the Allan government's plan to divide Victorians by race.'
Recent IPA analysis claimed the monetary compensation, tax relief and litigation which would flow from a treaty in Victoria based on the landmark Yoorrook report would be in excess of $48 billion annually.
'Victorians voted against racial division at the Voice referendum,' Ms Chambers said.
'Jacinta Allan is demonstrating complete and utter contempt for the Victorian people, and our democracy, by pursuing this treaty that will divide and cripple Victoria.
'With all the problems that Victoria faces, the last thing the community needs is a two-tiered legal system where some have special rights and get special government payments. Every Victorian should be treated equally under the law.'