A South Australian Indigenous university professor says a huge emphasis put on compensation by mainstream media in the wake of a treaty announcement is a ‘detraction’ from the broader intent.

On Wednesday South Australia’s Aboriginal Affairs Minister Kyam Maher announced the state government would begin negotiating treaties with individual Indigenous nations with the aim of finalising the first by the end of 2017.

Mainstream media publication the Australian has warned of ‘looming compensation’ while the Herald Sun’s Andrew Bolt says the South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill is seeking to ‘retribalise the nation’

Ngarrindjeri man and Dean of Indigenous Strategy and Engagement at Flinders University Daryle Rigney says the Ngarrindjeri people have not put forward any position on compensation.