A key architect of the Uluru Statement says Anthony Albanese should have called off the Voice to parliament referendum when internal polling showed a heavy defeat was inevitable, blaming Labor for a failed political strategy on Indigenous constitutional recognition.

Megan Davis, who helped draft the landmark 2017 statement and helped campaign for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander advisory body, said disinformation and overheated partisanship had fuelled the defeat. Voters rejected the Voice 60 per cent to 40 per cent on October 14 last year, with only the ACT recording a majority Yes vote.