EU-Australia Trade Deal Includes First Nations Protections in Chapter Nobody Will Read

CANBERRA – Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen this week signed a landmark free trade agreement that includes specific protections for the rights of Australian First Nations peoples – a detail the Government eagerly highlighted in its 14th press release about the deal.

The agreement which took eight years to negotiate includes references to First Nations peoples across chapters on intellectual property and critical raw materials along with an acknowledgement of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Legal experts confirmed this was legally binding in the same way that all international trade clauses are legally binding which is to say “eventually and subject to interpretation.”

A Government spokesperson said the provisions ensure “all Australians including First Nations peoples can benefit from the trade and investment opportunities the agreement creates.” When asked for a specific example of how a Yolngu community in East Arnhem Land might benefit from reduced EU tariffs on Australian barley the spokesperson said they would “take that on notice.”

Trade Minister Don Farrell said the deal represented “a new era of economic partnership” and noted that critical minerals provisions gave due account to “traditional rights and interests.” Mining companies confirmed they too would give due account to traditional rights and interests as soon as they finished giving due account to shareholders.

The signing took place at Parliament House in Canberra where the historic Yirrkala bark petitions are also on display. Nobody appeared to clock the irony.

First Nations trade advocates said they would be watching the implementation closely. “We’ve seen a lot of nice words in agreements before,” said one observer. “The question is always whether ‘specific references’ translate to specific dollars.”