The Albanese government is struggling to achieve bipartisan support for the Indigenous Voice to parliament, after the release of a revised referendum question failed to sway critics including Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.

Revealing draft constitutional changes to be put to voters in the spring – Australia’s first referendum in nearly a quarter of a century – an emotional Mr Albanese declared the plan was about more than symbolism, insisting it would improve the lives of the country’s most disadvantaged citizens.