The Victorian Greens have called on Labor to immediately scrap its Corrections Amendment Bill 2026 (“No Air in Prison Bill”), after Gellung Warl exercised its powers under the Treaty Act to formally intervene against the laws.
The Greens say the historic intervention is a make-or-break test of Labor’s commitment to Treaty and First Nations justice – and it would be deeply disrespectful if Labor pushes ahead with the Bill against the explicit advice of Gellung Warl.
The intervention from Gellung Warl comes after Labor rushed through laws to put children through the adult court system in the same week Treaty was signed, despite those laws disproportionately impacting First Nations children.
The No Air in Prison Bill would allow prisons to deny prisoners their legal entitlement to at least one hour in the open air each day for extended periods. This bare minimum right is recognised under the UN Nelson Mandela Rules for the treatment of prisoners. Labor has taken the extraordinary step of permanently overriding Victoria’s Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities to pass the Bill and acknowledges that the Bill is incompatible with Treaty.
The Greens opposed the Bill in the lower house and will vote against it in the Legislative Council. Victorian Greens justice spokesperson Katherine Copsey MLC will also speak at Wednesday’s rally opposing the laws.
As stated by Victorian Greens Leader Ellen Sandell:
“This is the first time Gellung Warl has made an intervention to formally ask the Government to withdraw legislation because it contravenes the principles of Treaty. Yet Labor has refused to listen or act.”
“This is a cruel bill that will disproportionately affect First Nations people and it is deeply disrespectful for Labor to push ahead and refuse to listen to the official elected First Nations body, who are asking for this terrible law to be scrapped”
As stated by Victorian Greens justice spokesperson Katherine Copsey MLC:
“Rather than compensate people whose rights have been breached, Labor’s solution is to take those rights away. That is an extraordinary abuse of government power.
“This is where Labor’s endless race to the bottom with the Liberals to look ‘tough on crime’ has taken us: stripping people of fundamental rights and normalising conditions akin to torture in prisons.
“You don’t rehabilitate people by locking them in a cell and denying them fresh air. You don’t make communities safer by treating people as less than human.
“The Greens will vote against this barbaric Bill and stand alongside First Nations, legal and human rights organisations demanding Labor withdraw it.”
