Meriki Onus

Growing up on Bung Yarnda, in a close-knit community, being on Country was all I knew. All my education was going to Aboriginal schools and kindergartens as a kid.

 I come from a long line of activists who’ve instilled a strong sense of justice in me from a young age. Standing up for our rights runs in my blood, my grandmother’s determination was something I felt and knew before I learned to talk.

 For the last decade I have organised and mobilised thousands of First Peoples and allies to take action for justice and a better future for our people.

 During the last 15 months, as the Head of Policy at First Peoples of Victoria, I led key work negotiating Treaty and building Gellung Warl. I have the skills, qualifications, and experience for what it takes for us to secure Gellung Warl and deliver meaningful change for our people.

 I understand what’s at stake in protecting our self-determination through strong cultural governance, governance that centres our knowledge and collective voice, not the systems that were designed to exclude us.

 If elected, I will continue the fight for justice for our people at the Assembly’s table.

 Sovereignty never ceded