Bernard Higgins wants everyone to attend the Treaty Consultation with Commissioner Aden Ridgeway, even if they don’t agree with a treaty. Photo: Mawang Gaway Facebook.
Everyone from the First Nations community is invited for a yarn with NSW Treaty Commissioner Aden Ridgeway when he lands in Wagga.
A treaty is a legally binding agreement reached between a government and Indigenous people that recognises historic wrongs and creates a path forward regarding mutual rights and responsibilities.
The Treaty Consultation will take place at the Transgrid Discovery Hub on Friday (31 October) from 10 am to midday.
Mawang Gaway secretariat and proud Wiradjuri man Bernard Higgins said Mr Ridgeway’s visit would spread awareness and provide the Aboriginal community a space to discuss their hopes for the treaty process, whether they were interested in a treaty and what it would look like.
“For the non-Indigenous people: don’t listen to the fearmongering or scare tactics,” Mr Higgins said.
“We’re not coming for people’s farms. We’re not going to take over. It’s just about recognition and being able to be sovereign people.”
Mr Higgins said the treaty had been an ongoing process, even before the recent success in Victoria, which could be a useful example of what the treaty could potentially be.
“[The treaty] is more in response to the Voice to Parliament that did not go up,” he said.
As Australia remains one of the only countries without a treaty in the Commonwealth, he feels a treaty would be a “well overdue” acknowledgement.
“Just that recognition alone, I think is pretty important,” he said.
“If you think about what should have happened 238 years ago … a treaty should have been done at that time.”
With more than 4000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Wagga, Mr Higgins is aware not everyone can make it, but hopes as many people as possible turn up to the community consultation.
“If both the Treaty Commission and the community can all walk away better informed about what we want and how it’s going to happen, I think that’ll be a win,” he said.
“Even if you don’t agree with a treaty, come along too. … If you come along and want to raise anything [but] don’t feel comfortable talking in a public setting, you can speak to [the NSW Commissioner’s] team and organise a one-on-one chat.”
The NSW Treaty Consultation is a 12-month, statewide listening process led by three independent Aboriginal Commissioners.
They have been appointed to travel across the state and speak directly with Aboriginal communities about one key question: “Do Aboriginal people in NSW want a treaty or other formal agreement-making processes and if so, what should that look like?”
There is no fixed template for a treaty as each agreement is shaped by the people who negotiate it. It could include land, water and resource rights; recognition of Aboriginal lore and cultural identity; truth-telling and historical acknowledgement and more.
NSW Treaty Commissioner Aden Ridgeway will be in Wagga for two days: Friday, 31 October at Transgrid’s Discovery Hub at 10 am; Monday, 3 November at Ngurra Hub (Ashmont Community Centre) from 10 am to noon, and Tolland Community Centre from 2 to 4 pm.
He will also be in Albury on Tuesday 4 November from 10 am to noon at the Atura Albury (Barnet Room).
More information on the NSW Treaty Commissioner’s visit can be found on Mawang Gaway’s Facebook.
