Region: South West
Reserved Seat: Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation

Member Content

Ngata, my name is Rueben Berg and I am a proud Gunditjmara man, and the Reserved Seat holder for Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation.

In my role of Co-Chair I have been involved in many forums, discussions, interviews and conversations to raise awareness and understanding about Treaty, and to find out what our communities’ aspirations are for Treaty.

The next key phase of the Treaty process has commenced, with the Treaty Authority (the independent facilitator that will oversee the Treaty process) having opened the Treaty Negotiations Database. The Assembly has provided it’s notification regarding how we meet the Minimum Standards for being able to negotiate the Statewide Treaty process (found here), which means there is currently a two month comment period where community can provide feedback on how the Assembly meets these Minimum Standards (closes Sept 17).

The next key phases of the Treaty process are:

• The Assembly officially takes up the role of the First Peoples’ Representative Body
• The State Government is invited to submit to the Treaty Authority details of how they meet the Minimum Standards to negotiate Treaty
• The Assembly provides community with an outline of the key things to be negotiated as part of the first Statewide Treaty
• The Assembly and the State Government agree to Negotiation Protocols to guide how negotiations will be undertaken
• Statewide Treaty Negotiations begin (hopefully by Nov 2024)

The Assembly website has got a good summary of the overall Treaty process here.

The key priorities for the first Statewide Treaty will likely build on previous discussions we have had with community about:

• the transfer of decision-making powers from the government to First Peoples
• the ability to provide direct advice to government, the Premier, Cabinet, Ministers, on issues that affect First Peoples
• providing a formal mechanism to keep the government accountable on delivering on the commitments and agreement it already has, and will continue to have, regarding First Peoples.
• ensuring that the recommendations from Yoorrook are implemented appropriately, and that ongoing Truth Telling can continue

In my role as the EMAC representative, I have run several meetings of the EMAC Treaty Working Group, I have attended EMAC Board Meetings, and community events, spent time in the Warrnambool EMAC office, and sent out regular emails updates to interested Eastern Maar community members. The EMAC Treaty Working Group has provided advice to EMAC about how we may wish to apply to the Self Determination Fund to progress Traditional Owner Treaty discussions.

Recently I attended two Regional Treaty Gatherings in the Southwest – July 4 in Warrnambool, and July 5 in Ballarat. These gatherings were a chance for Community in the South West to get together, yarn with elected Assembly Members, learn more about Treaty and have their say.

I hope to run an Eastern Maar Treaty Forum in October – more details to come soon.

I encourage all Eastern Maar community members to reach out to me if you have any questions, comments, thoughts or concerns about either the Statewide Treaty process, or Traditional Owner Treaties. Another great way to stay up to date on Treaty is to enrol in the Assembly.

There is great strength in numbers in this Treaty journey, and the more community who join us on this journey, the stronger our outcomes will be.

Wurruk,

Ngata, my name is Rueben Berg and I am a proud Gunditjmara man, and the Reserved Seat holder for Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation.

In my role of Co-chair I have been involved in many forums, discussions, interviews and conversations to raise awareness and understanding about Treaty, and to find out what our communities’ aspirations are for Treaty.

I have twice now given evidence alongside Ngarra Murray as part of the Yoorrook Justice Commission. The first time was to give evidence as part of the Land injustice hearings. I spoke about the significant impact that our lack of access to our land and waters has had on First Peoples and the potential for Treaty to make a difference in that space. The second time was as part of the Social Justice Hearings where I spoke about the impact colonisation had on our outcomes for First Peoples in Health, Housing, Education and Economic Prosperity.

I also spoke alongside Ngarra at the City of Melbourne National Reconciliation Week Oration, with a particular focus on Self-Determination and how it relates to Treaty.

More recently I spoke at the AIATSIS Conference, alongside many other Assembly Members. I spoke in particular about the Treaty Negotiation Framework and how self-determination has been embedded with that process. Also speaking was Dillon Johnson Executive Council from the Tla’amin Nation. I was struck by the similarities of the British Columbia Treaty approach, and also how much our Eastern Maar community, and in particular the Framlingham Aboriginal Community could aspire to similar Treaty outcomes that have been achieved by the Tla’amin Nation.

The next key phase of the Treaty process will commence soon, when the Treaty Authority (the independent umpire that will oversee the Treaty process) will open the Treaty Negotiants Database. This will give the Assembly the opportunity to present how we meet the Minimum Standards for being able to negotiate the Statewide Treaty process, and that will lead to a two month comment period where community can provide feedback on how the Assembly meets these Minimum Standards.

In my role as the EMAC representative, I ran the first meeting of the EMAC Treaty Working Group, I have attended EMAC Board Meetings, and community events, spent time in the Warrnambool EMAC office, and sent out regular email updates to interested Eastern Maar community members.

I also attended the EMAC opening of the Saddle Point Lookout at the 12 Apostles which features culturally inspired design work that I was able to contribute to.

Shortly I will be attending the Regional Treaty Gatherings in the South West – June 25 in Portland, July 4 in Warrnambool, and July 5 in Ballarat. These gatherings will be a chance for Community in the South West to get together, yarn with your elected Assembly Members, learn more about Treaty and have your say.

I encourage all Eastern Maar community members to reach out to me if you have any questions, comments, thoughts or concerns about either the Statewide Treaty process, or Traditional Owner Treaties. There is great strength in numbers in this Treaty journey, and the more community who join us on this journey, the stronger our outcomes will be. Wurruk

Ngata, my name is Rueben Berg and I am a proud Gunditjmara man, and the Reserved Seat holder for Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation.

I am also very grateful to have been chosen by the Assembly as one of their Co-Chairs, alongside Ngarra Murray. In my role of Co-Chair I have been involved in many forums, discussions, interviews and conversations to raise awareness and understanding about Treaty, and to find out what our communities’ aspirations are for Treaty.

In my role as the EMAC representative, I have attended EMAC Full Group Meetings and community events, run dedicated EMAC Zoom Treaty Information sessions, spent time in the Warrnambool EMAC office, and sent out regular email updates to interested Eastern Maar community members. I was particularly moved at being able to attend the recent Ancestral Reburial ceremony in Warrnambool where our community’s strength, unity, compassion and deep desire to practice and celebrate our culture was made very clear.

I am very excited to have been able to work with Eastern Maar to establish the EMAC Treaty Working Group. The Working Group will:

• provide a chance for mob to share ideas, have their say and help make sure the Treaty journey creates great outcomes for Eastern Maar community
• provide ideas and advice on Treaty readiness for Eastern Maar, including preparing for Treaty Negotiations
• advise EMAC as their corporation on what activities should be applied for under the Self Determination funding package to advance Treaty work and phases

Through this Working Group I am excited to see how the Eastern Maar community might choose to build on our previous successes in agreement making with government, through both our Native Title and Registered Aboriginal Party recognition. Traditional Owner Treaties offers us an opportunity to enhance our rights regarding land and waters, and to seek a transfer of decision making power from various government entities, including State Government departments, Parks Victoria, Local Councils, Catchment Management Authorities and Water Authorities.

While we continue our own discussions about Traditional Owner Treaties, the Assembly will continue its work in pursuing Statewide Treaties. A key focus for me in this term of the Assembly is how we can reach agreement with the government to see the Assembly evolve into a body that can:

• transfer decision making powers from the government to First Peoples
• provide direct advice to government, the Premier, Cabinet, Ministers, on issues that affect First Peoples
• provide a formal mechanism to keep the government accountable on delivering on the commitments and agreement it already has, and will continue to have, regarding First Peoples.

From the discussions I have had with the Eastern Maar community, there is a great keenness to see this happen, and I look forward to continuing to have discussions with the Eastern Maar community to determine the exact details of how we might want to implement those features of the evolved Assembly.

I encourage all Eastern Maar community members to reach out to me if you have any questions, comments, thoughts or concerns about either the Statewide Treaty process, or Traditional Owner Treaties. There is great strength in numbers in this Treaty journey, and the more community who join us on this journey, the stronger our outcomes will be. Wurruk