Labor won’t look back on Yes campaign but hamstrung on next steps

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has told colleagues there won’t be a formal review of Labor’s role in the failed Yes case, as he signalled a mooted crackdown on false and misleading political advertising could look at the Voice campaign.

Indigenous leaders’ decision to observe a week of silence to absorb Saturday’s referendum defeat has left the federal government unable to advance its alternative plans for reconciliation and to tackle disadvantage because of a desire to first consult them.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promised consultation with leaders before outlining the government’s next steps to close the disadvantage gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Three days after 61 per cent of voters rejected a Voice to parliament enshrined in the Constitution, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton focused his attack on treaty and truth-telling, which he argued could cost tens of billions of dollars.

Dutton sharply criticised the prospect of a national treaty with Indigenous Australians as something that “goes on for between 20 and 30 years” and in question time demanded the prime minister “inform the house whether or not he remains committed to a treaty and truth-telling”?

“We’re talking about tens of billions of dollars and a continuation of the division that he’s [Albanese] created out of the referendum,” Dutton told Channel Seven’s Sunrise program.

Several states, including Victoria, have begun the treaty-making process and the prospect of reparations is on the table in those jurisdictions.

Albanese stopped short of re-committing to the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart, which called for Voice, treaty and truth, saying that the government would respect Indigenous leaders’ request for a week of silence to consider their position.

He promised consultation with leaders before outlining the government’s next steps to close the disadvantage gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

“I think that is pretty reasonable. We then have a process of consultation ... one of the things I have been committed to is to the agency of First Australians. Not making them just disappear from the
process,” Albanese said.

Dutton also quizzed Albanese on the cost of the referendum and jabbed at the prime minister across the chamber: “You’ll find out what it will cost when you’re in opposition.”

Albanese accused Dutton of both supporting and opposing a second referendum on recognition of Indigenous Australians “depending upon whether you tune in to Channel Seven or Channel Nine”, after the opposition leader appeared to contradict himself during two breakfast TV interviews.

A Labor insider, who asked not to be named so they could canvass private party discussions, said: “There are lessons to be learnt [from the Voice campaign], for example from social media, but we won’t bog ourselves down in a review because referendums are so different from election campaigns.”

In question time, Albanese indicated a process to look at false and misleading political advertising was underway, highlighting what he called an “abhorrent” ad that ran during the Voice campaign.

He said the government did not want to interfere with freedom of expression but “you want to make sure that elections can be held and democratic processes can be held in an appropriate way”.

In the first gathering of Labor MPs since the No result, federal Labor MPs gave their Indigenous colleagues a standing ovation while Albanese justified the long referendum campaign, arguing the government had responded to a specific request from First Nations people for an Indigenous Voice.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton quizzed Albanese on the cost of the Voice referendum.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

When asked what message MPs should take back to their communities following the defeat, the prime minister spoke about the government’s action on the cost of living. He reminded the meeting of policy outcomes delivered while the Voice campaign was underway, such as a new housing fund, urgent care clinics and a skills agreement with the states.

One MP, who asked not to be named, described the mood in caucus as “funereal” while another said it was “like someone had died”, but a third Labor MP – while acknowledging the damaging result – said the meeting had been collegiate and civilised.

Although the outcome has raised questions about Labor’s campaign skills and the prime minister’s decisions on the Voice this year, MPs avoided statements that might hint at disunity.

While the government has not outlined its major plans post-Voice, Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney on Tuesday announced 100 houses had been built in 100 days in remote communities in the Northern Territory.

She also said the federal and NT governments had asked officials to assess proposals to set up, expand or improve boarding accommodation in central Australia. This includes a plan for a boarding facility at the Aboriginal-run Yipirinya School that has been backed by opposition Indigenous Australians spokesperson Jacinta Nampijinpa Price.

Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis from Jacqueline Maley. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter here.