Country is alive and part of us, as we are part of Country.
The rivers are our mother, the forests are our lungs, the land is our home, the plants are our food and medicine, the animals our totems, and the skies are where our ancestors rest.
But Country is suffering, and so are we. There's an ever-increasing number of threatened Totems and other species, ongoing unchecked deforestation, extraction and poisoning of water and we’re witnessing the collapse of entire ecosystems. First Peoples’ cultural heritage, songlines and totems are under threat.
Since colonisation, we have asserted our enduring Sovereign rights and responsibilities as First Peoples to connect with and care for Country. This includes maintaining and protecting our tangible and intangible cultural heritage, including the lands, waters, skies, and our sacred sites and songlines.
The destruction of our sacred sites, songlines, waterways and totems is cultural Genocide, and it continues to this day.
The Ecocide that is unfolding is happening alongside the Genocide of First Peoples - these forms of colonial violence cannot be separated from one another. The reckless pillaging of Country that we are currently seeing has only been made possible by the forced removal and displacement of First Peoples from our ancestral lands and violation of our rights and responsibilities to care for Country.
Yet despite the violation of our rights and the devastating impacts of colonisation, our deep connection to Country remains, and will always remain, as we are inseparable from it.
Our Ancestors and Elders have taught us that when we care for Country, Country will care for us.
Colonial environmental and cultural heritage laws are not broken. These laws have been carefully designed by governments and industry to allow the continued exploitation of Country, displacement and dispossession of First Peoples and desecration of our cultural heritage. Governments have set up systems that undermine proper community consultation, cultural decision-making protocols, and Free, Prior and Informed Consent, to justify any decision they make, no matter how destructive.
Water Sovereignty
First Peoples’ rights to manage water have been systematically erased and negated from water management and decision-making. The denial of First Peoples’ water Sovereignty has had devastating impacts on the health of Country, particularly in the Murray-Darling Basin.
As Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations (MLDRIN) stated: ‘First Nations advocacy over several decades has been consistent and unequivocal in its call for recognition of First Nations rights in Commonwealth legislation, procedural justice and water access. MLDRIN’s advocacy has been built on this policy platform over many years.’
Water is our mother, and we have understood how to manage this precious resource for thousands of generations. When First Peoples’ rights to manage water are upheld, the health of Country is improved.
Ending Native Forest Logging
Logging of our old growth native forests is one of the worst examples of violence perpetrated by the colonial system against First Peoples and Country.
Since Victoria declared an end to native forest logging in 2023, Vic Forests and the Victorian government have continued to find new ways to destroy Country and keep this destructive industry alive.
The logging industry has rebranded itself and is using so-called ‘partnerships’ with First Nations organisations to Blak-clad itself and gain the social licence to continue destroying and desecrating Forest Country.
There has never been consent to log our forests, and this destruction must end.
Protecting Country and cultural heritage: a chance to end the ongoing Ecocide
Treaty presents an opportunity for Country to heal. It will reinstate First Peoples’ ability to care for and regenerate Country in ways that align with our cultural knowledge and authority.
Treaty will ensure that First Peoples with the authority to speak for Country are properly engaged in decision-making and that our right to Self-determination and the principle of Free, Prior and Informed Consent are adhered to.
We know that our cultural heritage laws are failing First Peoples. It has been three years since the Inquiry into the destruction of Juukan Gorge and ‘A Way Forward’ handed down its final report, which recommended a total overhaul of cultural heritage protections in this country and mapped a pathway for reform.
But we are still waiting. The recommendations from the 2021 Juukan Gorge Inquiry are yet to be fully implemented. Every day that these recommendations are delayed, sacred sites and songlines are at risk of further destruction.
This is why I will continue pushing the federal government to:
- Begin Treaty negotiations with all Sovereign First Peoples as a matter of urgency so that all language groups can uphold their cultural authority over Country, self-determine their own aspirations and have greater control over decisions relating to Country.
- Fully implement all recommendations from the 2021 ‘A Way Forward’ report into the destruction of Juukan Gorge, including the introduction of new standalone cultural heritage legislation with protections for intangible and underwater cultural heritage.
- Strengthen national environmental laws, including the implementation of a National Environmental Standard for First Nations Engagement and Participation in Decision-Making. This will ensure there is a legally enforceable mechanism for upholding the principles of Free, Prior and Informed Consent.
- Ensuring that First Peoples play a key role in all laws, policies and decision-making processes relating to Country, Sea Country and the protection of cultural heritage.
- Introduce standards and safeguards to protect Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP), so that our knowledge and practices do not become yet another resource to be extracted.
- Stop approving fossil fuel projects and put an end to ecocidal coal, gas and fracking projects that are threatening our cultural heritage, Country, Sea Country and worsening the climate crisis.
- Expanding the water trigger in national environmental laws so that the cultural values of water resources are considered in assessments and approvals.
- Removing loopholes in environmental laws, such as exemptions for native logging and land clearing, and ensuring that all land-clearing and major project proposals are properly assessed for their impact on Country, climate, water, and First Peoples’ cultural heritage.