Stunning amount to settle Victoria’s Indigenous Treaty would save taxpayers – as Liberals vow to scrap body
Unwinding Victoria’s landmark Indigenous treaty would increase the state budget by almost $1 billion over the next decade, new cost calculations from the Parliamentary Budget Office show.
The analysis estimates that repealing the laws underpinning the treaty framework would improve Victoria’s net position by $948.3 million between 2025-26 and 2035-36, mainly by ending funding to key treaty bodies.
The analysis, requested by Opposition Leader Jess Wilson, outlines the costs of canceling treaty funding and dismantling the Self-Determination Fund, the Treaty Authority and Gellung Warl, the statutory body formed from the First People’s Assembly.
On the 2028-2029 forward estimates, the budget office projects that this move would improve the budget by $247.8 million, including $221.4 million in lower operating costs and $26.3 million in lower capital expenditures.
Under the scenario modeled by the PBO, the policy would take effect on January 1, 2027 and apply permanently.
The budget office said it assumes there will be no additional costs from scrapping the laws, and that government employees working on the process will be reassigned rather than laid off.
It also assumes that the treaty bodies would be dissolved according to their governance rules, with surplus assets distributed to charities with similar purposes.
The Victorian Liberals have vowed to scrap the process if elected, saying the framework is expensive, divisive and unnecessary.
Jess Wilson (pictured) has vowed to scrap the treaty if elected, saving taxpayers $1 billion
“My team will abolish Labor, saving taxpayers $1 billion over the next decade,” Wilson said.
“This is about priorities, and Labor has them all wrong.”
Wilson said the treaty is an expensive new layer of bureaucracy that will deliver no practical benefits to Aboriginal Victorians.
“Victoria does not need another multi-billion dollar bureaucracy that will not deliver better results,” she said.
“We need more money for our schools, our hospitals, our police and to repair our roads.”
‘It’s time to go back to basics and focus on the essentials.’
The coalition has consistently opposed Labour’s agenda, saying it entrenches race-based policies and creates permanent bureaucratic structures without real accountability.
The Allan government has defended the treaty framework, saying it is about tackling long-term disadvantage and improving outcomes for Aboriginal Victorians, not just short-term budget savings.
The government says the treaty is aimed at improving outcomes for Indigenous Victorians
Victoria is the first jurisdiction in Australia to successfully negotiate, approve and sign a formal treaty with First Peoples at state level.
Between 2025-26 and 2028-29 alone, the Parliamentary Budget Office found $370.5 million in treaty-related funding.
Remuneration documents from early 2026 show that the treaty advisory body’s co-chairs receive up to $348,000 a year, while elected members earn more than $197,000, with additional senior duties of $29,851 where relevant.
The total payroll for the 33-member organization is approximately $6 million per year.
The pay scales were determined by an independent panel, including representation from the Victorian Independent Remuneration Tribunal, and are just below the basic salary of a Victorian MP.