Tuesday, 30 April 2024

Ministers statements: Yoorrook Justice Commission

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:07): Yesterday I had the honour to appear before the Yoorrook Justice Commission on Wurundjeri country as the first head of government in Australia to participate in a truth-telling process. It was a humbling experience, especially considering the commission is establishing a true record of our state’s history. Telling the truth matters. It matters because still the record of our state’s history is incomplete. Like many Victorians, my formal education of Aboriginal people’s history here in Victoria and their experiences was not as it should have been. To be clear, that limitation was not an accident; it was part of a deliberate and systematic attempt to erase First Nations people from our state’s story. The process of truth-telling and our participation in that truth-telling process are a refusal to submit to that silence.

Appearing before the commission, I heard of the strength, resilience and resistance of Aboriginal people in our state and of their unbroken connection to country and culture for thousands of years. I also acknowledge the harms and injustices committed against First Peoples since colonisation: the murders, the massacres, the dispossession of country and culture, the separation of families, and the policies and practices of government that have created the gap that exists between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Victorians. Acknowledging this demands an honest recognition that we still have a long way to go.

As Premier of this state, the government remains fully committed to truth, treaty and determination of First Peoples. I remain hopeful that in time those opposite will put down their political weapons, join with the government, join with First Peoples here and join with the Victorian community to reckon with our past and go on that journey towards treaty.