The jaw dropping amount unwinding Victoria's Indigenous Treaty would save taxpayers - as Liberals vow to scrap body

By NICHOLAS COMINO, POLITICAL REPORTER, AUSTRALIA Published: 02:00, 5 May 2026 | Updated: 02:00, 5 May 2026 Unwinding Victoria's landmark Indigenous treaty would boost the state budget by almost $1 billion over the next decade, new costings from the Parliamentary Budget Office reveal. The analysis estimates that repealing the laws underpinning the treaty framework would improve Victoria's net position by $948.3 million from 2025–26 to 2035–36, mostly by ending funding to core treaty bodies. The analysis, requested by Opposition Leader Jess Wilson, outlines the cost of cancelling treaty funding and dismantling the Self‑Determination Fund, the Treaty Authority and Gellung Warl, the statutory body formed from the First Peoples' Assembly. Across the forward estimates to 2028–29, the budget office predicts the move would improve the budget by $247.8 million, including $221.4 million in reduced operating costs and $26.3 million in lower capital spending. Under the scenario modelled by the PBO, the policy would start on January 1, 2027, and apply permanently. The budget office said it assumes no additional costs from scrapping the laws, and that government staff working on the process would be redeployed rather than sacked. It also assumes the treaty bodies would wind down according to their governing rules, with surplus assets distributed to charities with similar purposes. The Victorian Liberals have pledged to scrap the process if elected, saying the framework is costly, divisive and unnecessary. Jess Wilson (pictured) has vowed to scrap the treaty if elected, saving $1billion to taxpayers 'My team will scrap Labor's treaty, saving taxpayers a billion dollars over the next decade,' Wilson said. 'This is about priorities, and Labor has got them all wrong.' Wilson said the treaty is an expensive new layer of bureaucracy that will not deliver practical benefits for Aboriginal Victorians. 'Victoria doesn't need another billion‑dollar bureaucracy that won't deliver better outcomes,' she said. 'We need more money for our schools, our hospitals, our police, and to fix our roads.' 'It's time to get back to basics and focus on the essentials.' The Coalition has consistently opposed Labor's treaty 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 addressing long‑standing 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, pass, and sign a formal treaty with First Peoples at a statewide level. The Parliamentary Budget Office found $370.5 million in treaty‑related funding between 2025–26 and 2028–29 alone. Remuneration documents from early 2026 show co‑chairs of the treaty advisory body are paid up to $348,000 a year, while elected members earn more than $197,000, with additional higher‑duties payments of $29,851 where relevant. The total wage bill for the 33‑member body is about $6 million a year. The salary bands were set by an independent panel, including representation from the Victorian Independent Remuneration Tribunal, and sit just below a Victorian MP's base salary. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.