The recent failure of the Voice to Parliament referendum has given conservative voters in Victoria some glimmer of hope that the spineless Victorian Opposition might actually start to read the electorate’s mood with regard to the sorry state of Aboriginal activist politics. Our hope was that they would develop policies based on principle, instead of sheepishly accepting the divisive politics of Labor.

And they have not disappointed. In the last few days, Victorian National Party Leader and Opposition Aboriginal Affairs spokesperson, Peter Walsh, revealed that the Coalition has changed its support for treaty in Victoria by saying they will no longer back the process. Mr Walsh told Sky News Australia, ‘We don’t believe we should proceed with treaty.’

This is very welcome news for Victorians worried about the divisive consequences of the treaty process. By its very definition, setting up a treaty will entail dividing Victorians based on their race (ethnicity, ancestry, etc take your pick), into two groups who will forever be locked into living in a state of ‘separateness’ or, apartheid as the Afrikaans used to call it. We all know how that turned out for South Africa and none of us want a repeat of that system here in Victoria.

But the Opposition had better be prepared for a political backlash from Labor, the Greens, and the Aboriginal activists. Even the Teals will throw in some of their designer virtue and join the push for a treaty with chants of, ‘Always was, Always will be Aboriginal Land!’ – except for Kooyong and Brighton of course!

This political backlash will be designed to make the Opposition look mean-spirited towards Aboriginal people. A proposal to counter this could be for the party to get on the front foot and announce that, of the $65 million budgeted by Labor for the treaty process [yes, it is that much], $20 million will be returned to the indebted Victorian Treasury, $20million will be retained for constructive spending on Aboriginal affairs in Victoria, and the remaining $25million will be spent/gifted to Aboriginal people in dire need in remote Australia.

For example, Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has campaigned hard to fund the Yipirinya Boarding School in Alice Springs. For $12 million, this school could be built to provide a safe learning environment and a promising future for the most marginalised and disadvantaged children in Australia. Sadly, political and bureaucratic in-fighting has so far prevented its construction.

It seems that this is where the people of Victoria could step in. As a policy for the next election, the Coalition could offer to fund two new schools in the Northern Territory at a cost of $12.5 million each. A condition of the policy would be that, say, 60 per cent of the costs of materials, design, and contract labour would need to be sourced from Victorian-based firms. The Aboriginal community of Victoria could be given naming rights for the school. They might like to commemorate a famous Aboriginal Victorian – the William Cooper Boarding School for example.

Politically this might have enough appeal to bring back those wavering Liberal voters in the threatened inner-city electorates, as well as gain some swinging Labor voters who want to see real change for disadvantaged Aboriginal children. Many progressive voters, both Liberal and Labor, are sick of seeing millions of our tax dollars being spent on middle-class activists swanning around in facepaint and possum coats while real Aboriginal children continue to suffer. Imagine the political value to the Opposition’s electoral fortunes by having the hugely popular Senator Price campaigning around the state with Peter Walsh selling this policy. Sounds like a win for the Opposition, Victoria, and Aboriginal children.

We need to remember that, as Australians, we are all in this together and anything that stops further divisions, and bridges the gaps where they do exist in our society, can only be a good thing.