Anthony Albanese and Linda Burney dodge treaty questions

The lack of clarity over what Australians can expect after an Aboriginal Voice to parliament passes could be the undoing of the referendum with the government facing sustained pressure to cough up its position on a treaty.

The lack of clarity over what Australians can expect after an Aboriginal Voice to parliament passes could be the undoing of the referendum with the government facing sustained pressure to cough up its position on a treaty.

The Prime Minister’s messaging around the referendum is under the spotlight after the Coalition seized on two “trainwreck” radio interviews in recent weeks where Anthony Albanese stumbled over details of the Voice.

In an interview with Radio National, the Prime Minister was asked if a successful Voice would follow a commonwealth First Nations treaty to which he said: “No … because that that’s occurring with the States right now.”

Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Northern Territory and Tasmania have committed to a treaty process.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at Question Time. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Beach

When asked if he was implying that the Commonwealth will never have a role with treaties, Mr Albanese said: “What I’m saying is that what the no campaign want to do is to focus on everything that’s not happening, and nothing that is. What is happening is a vote in the last quarter of this year for a Voice to Parliament.”

The grilling continued on Wednesday with the focus turning to Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney who was quizzed on details about the Uluru Statement from the Heart’s second component -- the already earmarked Makarrata Comission.

The statement’s website states the Commission -- which will likely be modelled after Victoria’s Yoorook Justice Commission and be led by independent commissioners -- will be in charge of “truth telling” and treaty making.

Ms Burney said work on the Commission will begin after the referendum before reading off a quote about the importance of Makarrata.

But the government’s strategy continued to unravel with the Opposition grilling Mr Albanese on the pursuit of a treaty in Question Time.

Linda Burney. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“When will we get a straight word from this prime minister?,” Mr Dutton said.

Mr Albanese fired back by saying Mr Dutton should spend less time on his “dirt unit” and more in the “red dirt” beforing inviting his rival to Garma. 

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson accused the government of not being upfront about its plan.

“When people really wake up to what the Voice is about, they feel that the prime minister is not being upfront and honest that this is about setting up a body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to negotiate a treaty,” she said.

“He is a socialist with these views, and he is not a prime minister for all Australia,” she said.

Voice supporters accused Mr Dutton of mounting a “scare campaign” about the prospect of a treaty with Indigenous Australians - which yes campaigners say would be a “decades-long process” - to undermine the current referendum. 

“The only person talking about (the) treaty right now is Peter Dutton, and it’s nothing but a scare campaign from him,” he said. 

“We want to make it very clear to people that this referendum is about one thing and one thing only, and that is about getting an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to close the gap and help fix issues facing our communities now.”

Mr Parkin said treaty processes “take a long time to finalise” - likely “decades” - which he said Mr Dutton would have been “well aware” of. 

“We’ve got urgent issues facing Indigenous people now that can only be fixed through a Voice,” he said. 

“That’s what this referendum is about and that’s why we’re encouraging Australians to vote yes.”

Originally published as Anthony Albanese and Linda Burney dodge treaty questions