Video surfaces of Voice architect saying the Uluru Statement from the Heart is about ‘Voice first, Treaty second’ and warning ‘treaties are about reparations’

The Voice referendum campaign has been rocked by the surfaced video of a Voice architect declaring that the Uluru statement is about ‘Voice first, Treaty second’ from the heart.

In a speech she gave on June 28, 2018Professor Megan Davis also said that ‘treaties are about reparations’ and that ‘the Treaty is not an end, but a beginning.’

The Uluru Declaration from the Heart was issued in May 2017, following two years of consultations with indigenous communities across the country.

It forms the basis for the upcoming referendum to be held on October 14 which, if passed, would enshrine an Indigenous vote in the Australian Constitution.

This would mean that an advisory body of First Nations people should be consulted by federal politicians on matters affecting the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Prof Davis’s resurfaced video comes just days after fellow Voice architect Pat Anderson revealed the advisory body would “share power with parliament” following a successful “Yes” vote.

‘Uluru was a series reform. First the vote to Parliament, then the Treaty,’ said Professor Davis.

‘Treaties are legal texts. Disputes over interpretation will arise. The treaties are about reparations for past injustices and they are about land and resources.’

Professor Davis said that getting a treaty ‘has always been the main aim of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander movement’.

“The Treaty is a fundamental constitutional agreement between First Nations and the state and involves a redistribution of political power.”

She said a treaty would create “binding frameworks for future agreements and dispute resolution,” but that “there will be disputes over interpretation.”

The UNSW professor also spoke of the Makarrata Commission, which would seek a treaty between the federal government and the First Nations community.

“The idea behind this Makarrata commission is that we can raise resources, so precedence is very important to record how Victoria got to this point.”

Victoria’s Yoorrook Justice Commission was established to “address historic and persistent injustices and be a key part of the treaty process.”

Professor Davis said: ‘Every element, every person needs to be interviewed so that everyone involved in this across the country in the future can draw from that.’

She also spoke in her speech about the “very important accelerated settlement of land occupation, including indigenous property.”

“The Treaty is not an end, it is a beginning. The Voice to Parliament is not an original idea, it is as old as the call for treaties,” she said.

Professor Davis (pictured) said: ‘Uluru was a series reform. First the vote to Parliament, then the Treaty’

‘Aboriginal peoples as an extreme minority have always strived for a greater role in decision-making in Australian democracy.

“So the order of Vote and then Treaty is correct. We need an interface between communities and the state.’

To achieve success, says the academic, “an institutional framework with resources and legitimacy” is needed.

While a treaty is the primary aspiration of most Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, she said, “a voice also addresses the state’s routine inability to hear what we say…”

In the past, Anthony Albanese made no secret of his position on a treaty (tweet pictured)

And that’s what I believe Uluru represents, that’s what I believe the Victorian process represents. It represents hope against hope that we can push for a comprehensive settlement, finally a Makarrata process.

“Vote, treaty and truth.”

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has recently consistently said that the referendum – which polls have indicated will fail – is just about a vote, not a treaty or reparations.

But Albanese was elected after campaigning under the slogan ‘Vote, Treaty, Truth’ and he even pledged to ‘fully implement’ the Uluru Declaration from the heart in his first speech after taking power.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Prof Davis and the Uluru Dialogues for comment.