Dean Smith makes the valid point that Labor has not been successful in getting referendums passed (“Odds stacked in vote for the Voice”, January 16). That’s because the conservative parties always oppose questions put by Labor, regardless of the merits of the proposal.

Labor’s attempts to have local government recognised in the Constitution were defeated in 1988 in every state after being opposed by the Liberals (along with trial by jury, no confiscation by state governments, fair elections, and four-year terms). Again in 2013, Dean Smith and the Liberals opposed local government recognition and the proposal was never put.