Victorian Treaty with First Nations

ANCIENT RHYTHMS HERALD NEW TREATY

I have been impressed with this article in the the Melbourne AGE regarding the new treaty recently signed by the Victorian Government. by Tony Wright, and have reproduced it here with some annotations by myself for clarity.

You may have noticed references to First Nations culture in my work on this web site, and I fully support the treaty with the first Nations people in Victoria.

Melbourne AGE, Saturday December 13, 2025.

(Journalist TONY WRIGHT)

There was a wild shout of celebration, the enthusiastic stamping of many dancing feet, and the hugs and handshakes of old friends from country and city.

The members of the First People?s Assembly laid their handprints on a document written on kangaroo skin. The members were from the Wemba Wemba in the north – east to the Yorta Yorta in the north, the Gunditjmara in the far south- west, the Gunaikurnai of the south-east, and numerous peoples and language groups in between.

The ceremony at the Aboriginal Advancement League's Sir Douglas Nicholls sporting complex in Thornbury symbolised a long process to win recognition from the state of Victoria.

The Kangaroo-skin document was later taken to a ceremony at Melbourne?s John Cain Arena. There, Premier Jacinta Allen and the co-chairs of the first peoples? Assembly of Victoria, Ngarra Murray and Rueben Berg, added their handprints to the document.

This marked a new beginning for both black and white.

Delegations of Maori from New Zealand and Chieftans from Canada – all who have enjoyed treaties for generations – came to witness that first treaty in Australia.

We come to this new world, this treaty, after generations of being told to be silent, to call it loss, misfortune, tragedy, as if our attempted erasure were natural, and when the worst had passed, we were told to get over it, as if no one was to blame. But we have always known the truth, and we name it for what happened. It was genocide, planned, concealed, and undeniable.

AUNTY ESMERALDA BAMBLETT, an elder of the Bangerang, Taungurung, and Wiradjuri people, and a member of the First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria, and co-chair of its Elders' Voice. Bamblett read the words of the Statewide Treaty Declaration.

"We are tending to a fire that many said would burn out. This treaty means a future where children grow up proud of who they are, walking confidently in two worlds, knowing their language and history, where their rights are honoured. It is a future where Victoria is defined not by what it has taken, but by its deep respect of First Peoples and by how we thrive together.

Elders clothed themselves in long possum-skin cloaks despite the summer heat. Possums were introduced to New Zealand, and became a pest. The Maori delegation brought more possum skins, returning what was taken.

And with that, dancers from 18 Victorian groups took to a circle of sand, their feet stamping ancient rhythms – a high energy celebration by people placing their hopes in a new compact between all citizens of the state.

TREATY IS HERE !

Environment Victoria News, Issue 45, autumn 2026.

Journalist Taryn Sadler.

Victoria made history last year – becoming the first state in Australia to enshrine Treaty in law. Victoria has shown that Treaty is possible. The task now is to sustain the momentum – here and nationally – so that justice for First Peoples and care for Country remain at the heart of our shared future.