Towards establishing a treaty relationship in Australia

Australia is unique among settler societies in the extent to which it has denied the rights of Indigenous peoples who lived here for millennia before European colonisation. The original inhabitants, or 'First Peoples', were not deemed worthy of a status whereby they would be participants in negotiated settlements, or treaties. In Australia, ancient 'discourses of domination' were employed to entrench an inequitable relationship between peoples, the basis of which has yet to be disturbed. This thesis argues for treaty, or treatylike agreements, as the mechanism capable of establishing a just relationship between peoples in Australia. The inherent flexibility of treaty allows for a truly bilateral process where the legitimate status of both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples is mutually reinforced. Important lessons can be learnt from the conception, practice and difficulties of British Columbia's modern-day treaty process. There, centuries of denial have been replaced by a commitment to negotiate a new future. In Australia, recognition of native title has promoted an encouraging new culture of agreement-making between peoples. However, archaic perceptions continue, casting doubt on the fundamental nature of change to the relationship. Indigenous leaders, therefore, continue historic demands for recognition of their distinct status via the establishment of a treaty relationship.