Former minister breaks ranks with Nationals on Voice to Parliament

A crack has emerged within the Nationals, with a former minister taking to Facebook to speak out against the party’s most recent announcement.

A former minister has broken ranks with the Nationals to declare he will be supporting the Indigenous Voice to Parliament.

Andrew Gee, who was not present at the party room meeting, as he was in flood affected Eugowra, said he stood by his “long time” support of the proposal.

“There is still a heck of a lot of hard work to do; to achieve a Voice, we’ll need that as well as goodwill, open minds and generosity of spirit,” Mr Gee said in a post to his Facebook page.

Nationals leader David Littleproud and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price said the Nationals would oppose the Voice to parliament. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

“Reconciliation in Australia has made significant progress in recent years, but there is still a long way for us all to travel. Let’s keep working at it and walking down that road. Together we can do it.”

Nationals leader David Littleproud is now facing a split federally and at state level, after the leader of the West Australian branch, Mia Davies, also made her position clear.

“I‘m respectful of the decision their party room has made; it doesn’t necessarily align to how the Nationals in Western Australia have approached this issue,” she told ABC Radio Perth.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Australians would vote on the Voice to parliament referendum in the next financial year. Picture: Tamati Smith / Getty Images

Mr Littleproud said his party wasn’t seeking to criticise the government for what it was trying to achieve, but said there were better ways to go about it.

“We just can’t have an approach where we can send a small cohort to Canberra – we should send Canberra to them. We should empower these local communities with the solutions locally,” he told ABC News.

Meanwhile in the House of Representatives, Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney delivered an emotional statement recounting her upbringing in a small NSW town.

“We didn’t have much, and I didn’t know my dad until I was 27,” she said.

Linda Burney delivered an emotional statement to the house on Tuesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

“Being kind to others doesn’t cost you anything, and … you learn more from listening than by talking.

“That someone with my history can stand in this place is the most unlikely thing. But not everyone is so lucky. Not everyone can have their voice heard. That is why we need a Voice.”

It comes after Country Liberal Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, a Warlpiri Celtic woman, accused Ms Burney of flying into remote communities “dripping with Gucci”.

Earlier, Indigenous leader Noel Pearson slammed Senator Price’s comments, claiming she was being used by right wing think tanks to “punch down on other black fellas”.

In a statement, Senator Price said she did not care for the “absolute noise of bullies”.

“It perplexes me that for some disturbing reason, some ABC presenters foam at the mouth at the opportunity to pit Aboriginal people against each other and bullying is encouraged rather than called out,” she said.

The Liberals have yet to come to a position on the referendum. Opposition legal affairs spokesman Julian Leeser on Tuesday flagged they will be unlikely to do so until the government releases further details on the referendum.

Originally published as Former minister breaks ranks with Nationals on Voice to Parliament