Hansard debates

Rikkie-Lee TYRRELL (Northern Victoria) (16:37): One Nation Victoria will not be supporting this bill. This Statewide Treaty Bill 2025 is being dressed up as progress, but in truth it is deeply flawed. It risks dividing Victorians, draining public funds and undermining equality before the law. As I have stated in this place before, I am of Indigenous heritage on my father’s side, but this never influenced the person I am today. Not once did I allow this to set me back. Not once did I allow my upbringing to keep me from my dreams and successes. Not once did I use this as an excuse for my behaviour. I am living proof that we do not need to divide or separate to improve the outcomes in people’s lives. This bill creates an unelected body with extraordinary powers: the ability to question ministers, influence parliamentary proceedings and demand treaty compatibility statements on new laws. That is not democracy, that is special treatment for some at the expense of equality for all.

Next is the cost. Victorians are struggling with a housing crisis, hospital waiting lists and rising living expenses. Yet this bill locks in automatic funding increases of 2.5 per cent a year, with costs expected to hit $70 million annually by 2028 to 2029. That is hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars diverted away from frontline services into bureaucracy.

And how was this bill introduced? Quietly. It was rushed, slipped into Parliament without genuine consultation. If this government believed Victorians supported it, they would not have to hide it. This treaty was undertaken under a shroud of secrecy, with most Victorians left out of the negotiations and left in the dark on the whole process. Documentation surrounding the treaty has been hidden from public view for 30 years, as announced in the Government Gazette on 21 March 2024. How is this open and transparent? They are words the government loves to throw around but rarely acts upon. I have actually seen more transparency in mud.

The greatest danger is division. This bill risks creating two classes of citizens, one with special rights and influence and another without. That is not reconciliation. That is not unity. It is the opposite. The government keeps using the line that this will be good for all Victorians. How will this be good for our overcrowded, understaffed hospitals? How will treaty be good for the thousands of people who are homeless? How will it be good for the mums and dads struggling to put dinner on the table and keep the lights on? How will it be good for the great number of Victorians working two or three jobs just to keep themselves afloat? How will it be good for the people who call 000 in an emergency and no-one comes? How will a treaty that divides us by our race be good for the already fracturing society we have here in Victoria? How can the government explain this to the people of Victoria, because from what I can see, this bill does nothing to help anyone but those in power. Victorians want fairness. They want transparency, and they want governments focused on real outcomes: schools, hospitals, jobs and safety. This bill delivers none of that. One Nation Victoria says to the government, ‘Scrap it.’ Reconciliation must be built on equality, respect and unity, not expensive bureaucracy and special privileges.