Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has warned the federal government it should abandon the Voice to Parliament referendum if it is unconvinced the “yes” campaign will succeed.
Key points:
- Dutton says the referendum should not proceed if there’s a chance the ‘Yes’ vote will fail
- He warns that reconciliation will be harmed if the Voice does not gain support
- The prime minister has accused him of seeking to “create confusion and spread division”
Mr Dutton has warned “reconciliation will be harmed” if the referendum fails, and described the government’s approach to the Voice as a “con job”.
Earlier in the week, the Liberal Party broadly supported legislation establishing the referendum, which will be held in the final few months of this year.
But the Coalition has for months campaigned against the Voice, instead calling for constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians without a constitutionally-enshrined Voice.
Some published opinion polls have shown support for the “yes” campaign slipping, while others have held steady.
Mr Dutton told parliament if there was a chance the vote might fail, it should not go ahead.
“If the prime minister is going forward with a constitutional change that he believes is going to fail, that will set back reconciliation, then it is incumbent on this prime minister to stop that course of action,” he said.
“The best outcome achievable by many pundits and many experts observing this debate at the moment is that the nation is split evenly down the middle.
“And it should be incumbent on any prime minister to provide the leadership to prevent that from taking place.”
No date for the poll has yet been set, but it must be held before the end of the year.
Throughout the week, the Coalition has used Question Time to pursue the government on what the proposed Voice would or would not be able to provide advice on — raising matters like the date of Australia Day, or the Reserve Bank.
Indigenous Affairs Minister Linda Burney has largely refused to engage around specifics, arguing while the Voice may provide advice, only the parliament can make laws.
And she pointed to part three of the proposed constitutional amendment, which sets out that the “composition, functions, powers and procedures” of the Voice would be entirely determined by the parliament.
Ms Burney criticised the intent of some of the questions, arguing debate around the Voice should not be about “culture wars”.
Responding to the opposition leader’s suggestions, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese accused Mr Dutton of seeking to “create confusion and spread division”.
“We’ve had 122 years of decisions being made about Aboriginal people, without Aboriginal people,” he said.
“With the best of intentions, we have presided over an expensive, well-intentioned failure.
“One hundred and twenty-two years of doing things for Indigenous Australians — this is our chance to do things with Indigenous Australians.”