By Kieran Rooney
The management of water resources would be reshaped to enshrine Victorian traditional owners as rights holders, entitled to income and powers over use, under a proposal from the state’s truth-telling inquiry.
The Yoorrook Justice Commission published its final reports on Tuesday, proposing a rethink of the state’s multibillion-dollar water system and arguing First Peoples are too far removed from a resource that is fundamental to their culture.
While Indigenous land rights have loomed in the public consciousness since the 1992 Mabo decision, water is described by Yoorrook as the lifeblood of Country.
“That sovereignty was never ceded means that ‘all water is Aboriginal water’ and the Crown should not have ‘sole authority’ in managing water,” the commission wrote. “Yoorrook calls for First Peoples’ fundamental and inherent rights to water to be recognised.”