The members of the First Peoples' Assembly express both their reservations and hopes as they begin the process of setting up a negotiation framework for treaties between the Victorian Government and Aboriginal clans across the state.
On the steps outside the imposing pillars of Victoria's Parliament House, Wathaurong, Gunditjmara and Arrernte man Jordan Edwards waited to enter the building and make history.
"All my people since colonisation have screamed for treaty and now the chance is finally here," he said. "[But] I feel the lack of blackness in this process … A meeting of this magnitude should have been out in the scrub, in the bush, on country." He voiced his concerns about the journey ahead but also his aspirations as an elected member for Victoria's south-west region.
"I understand how we are taking this place back … I also see the hope in this process to finally make a change for our people, but only if we eliminate everybody's egos and self agendas," he said.
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