Victoria’s Parliament has formally apologised to the State’s First Peoples for generations of harm inflicted through the actions and inactions of the State and its colonial predecessors.
Premier Jacinta Allan, speaking in Parliament on Tuesday, said the apology marks “a place of reckoning” for all Victorians and recognises the profound impact of past decisions on generations of First Peoples.
“All of us who call Victoria home must confront the truths revealed by the Yoorrook Justice Commission,” Ms Allan said, highlighting that the Commission found the sovereignty of First Peoples in Victoria was never ceded. She described colonisation as “rapid and violent,” noting lands and waters were taken without consent, communities displaced, languages silenced, children removed, and lives lost.
The Premier said the laws and policies of colonial and state governments were deliberately designed to enable these harms, the effects of which continue today.
The apology comes as Victoria moves forward with a Statewide Treaty, described by Ms Allan as “a negotiated agreement between equals” and a key step towards ensuring past wrongs are never repeated.
Ms Allan expressed sorrow for a litany of historic injustices, including the forced removal of children, the criminalisation of culture, the theft of lands and sacred sites, and the silencing of Indigenous languages. She acknowledged the continuing impact of these policies on First Peoples, saying the State will work to address ongoing injustice.
“We offer this apology with open minds, open eyes and open hearts,” she said. “Through Treaty, we commit to building a future where the power taken is returned, where the voices silenced are heard, and where the relationship between First Peoples and the State is remade — not in the image of the past, but in a future of equality and respect.”
Ms Allan concluded: “Victoria will not look away. Not from the truth. Not from the work. Not from you.”
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