Victorian Government Official Apologises for Historical Land Dispossession

Indigenous performers perform the welcome to country during a smoke ceremony prior to the state funeral service for Uncle Jack Charles at Hamer Hall in Melbourne, Australia, on Oct. 18, 2022. Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images

Victoria’s Surveyor-General, Craig Sandy, has apologised to the state’s indigenous people for the role played by his predecessors in illegally confiscating their land and causing intergenerational trauma.

When the first European settlers arrived in Australia, it was considered “terra nullius,” a legal term meaning “land over which no previous sovereignty has been exercised.” It was formally enacted into law via a proclamation by New South Wales (NSW) Governor Richard Bourke in 1835, 47 years after the arrival of the First Fleet.

The concept was used by the British government to justify European settlement of what had previously been Aboriginal land. In many cases, the Indigenous people were killed or imprisoned.

Terra nullius wasn’t overturned until the High Court of Australia’s Mabo decision (pdf) in 1992, which recognised Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ continuing connection and rights to land through Native Title.

Since then, successive Victorian governments have entered into settlements with Aboriginal mobs (tribes).

Deep Regret

Mr. Sandy told the Yoorrook Justice Commission on April 15 that he wanted to “formally and sincerely apologise for the role surveyor-generals past and present, and surveyors working under our direction, have had in the process of dispossession of land from first peoples of the area now known as Victoria.”

He “deeply” regretted that his predecessors had caused significant trauma to Indigenous people by preventing them from being able to care for country, practice language, and exercise their rights.

He said they were part of “a broader systemic process that enabled land injustice to occur and continue to occur.”

He committed to updating a reference handbook for surveyors, available on a state government website, which does not refer to the Mabo decision.

Earlier, counsel assisting the Commission, Tony McAvoy SC, said that the British government knew the arrival of settlers at Port Phillip would be “disastrous” for Aboriginal people.

“They knew, because they had seen it all happen before in Canada, Port Jackson, and particularly in Van Diemen’s Land,” Mr. McAvoy said.

“The loss of life was not inevitable but it was a known consequence of the land theft that was to take place.”

The Yoorrook Commission is creating an official record on the impact of colonisation on Aboriginal people in Victoria, and will recommend actions to address injustices.

Its report will contribute towards the state’s recently established Treaty Negotiation Framework. It will hear evidence from Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan, Environment Minister Steve Dimopoulos, and Treaty and First Peoples Minister Natalie Hutchins.

Co-chairs of the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria, Ngarra Murray and Rueben Berg, will also give evidence.