Full-time negotiators of a treaty with First Nations people in Victoria will be earning a paycheck just shy of that paid to the state’s premier despite Australia’s serious cost of living crisis.
The five ‘independent umpires’ of the Victorian Treaty Authority panel will each earn $380,000 per year plus expenses if they work full-time on the treaty process.
Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price is demanding that Premier Jacinta Allan explain why these people, who are yet to be named, are set to be paid so much money.
Panelists will be appointed on Tuesday as the Victorian Government cuts thousands of jobs in the public sector to fight the state’s growing debt.
Work to begin treaty negotiations has been discussed within the Victorian chamber since 2018 and is expected to commence in late 2024.
Five unnamed ‘independent umpires’ working with the Victorian Treaty Authority panel are set to each pocket $380,000 for full-time work on negotiations with First Nations Peoples
Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price (pictured centre) is demanding Premier Jacinta Allan explain why these panelists will be receiving a paycheck just shy of Ms Allan’s own $421,190 salary
Senator Price called the wages ‘unbelievable’ and ‘utterly ridiculous’ which will only result in further public division on the subject.
‘It is unbelievable that at a time when Australian families are struggling with the cost of housing, food and fuel, the Victorian Labor government are going to spend two million dollars a year on dividing Australians further,’ she told the Herald Sun.
‘How can the Labor government look struggling Victorians in the eye and justify this utterly ridiculous waste of money?’
Opposition Aboriginal Affairs spokesman Peter Walsh also said that the premier ‘must tell Victorians why such generous salaries are justified’.
The funds will be paid out of a previously approved $65m fund allotted by the state government to commence negotiations and are almost equal to Ms Allan’s $421,190 salary.
They are five times the average wage of a registered nurse and higher than either an elected minister or an associate judge of the Supreme Court.
A government spokesperson defended the salaries and claimed that they were ‘consistent’ with the Treaty Authority and Other Treaty Elements Act 2022.
It’s understood most of the panelists would be paid on a daily or half-daily rate but no detail was given regarding any individual pro-rata contracts.
In May the Salvation Army found that 93 per cent of the 1,700 people who use the foundation’s services were struggling to afford basic living necessities.
A government spokesperson claimed the salaries were ‘consistent’ with the Treaty Authority and Other Treaty Elements Act 2022 (pictured, Victorian premier Jacinta Allan)
A First Peoples Assembly of Victoria (pictured) spokesperson said that the ministry-level wages were used to ‘make sure we have the best people for these vital roles’
One mother, 55, lost 40kg in less than a year because she couldn’t afford to feed her children as well as herself due to the soaring costs of groceries, fuel and other amenities.
Another mum, 29, revealed that she lived off of her child’s leftovers if there were any.
‘I eat the leftover food from my child’s meal, if there is any, or I just don’t eat,’ she said.
‘I wait at the school car park from drop-off until pick-up if I’m short on fuel. I have sold most of my own clothing to buy my children clothes.’
More than 50 per cent of those surveyed said that they could not afford healthcare, and at least three in four were living on incomes below the poverty line.
Work on an independent treaty in Victoria began in 2018 under the Andrews government which enacted Australia’s first Treaty legislation.
Salaries for the yet-to-be-named Treaty Authority panel were approved by the First People’s Assembly board and negotiations are expected to begin by late 2024.
A First Peoples Assembly of Victoria spokesperson said that it was ‘important’ to have ‘respected and trusted keepers of wisdom who can guide us on the shared journey to Treaty and help resolve disputes’.
‘We’ve got to make sure we have the best people for these vital roles and the salary is commensurate with other positions,’ they said.
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