Mali calls for clarification after Tarzia and Teague give differing answers on Libs’ voice position
Premier Peter Malinauskas has demanded the Liberal Party clarify their stance on SA’s Voice to Parliament after Opposition members gave three contradictory positions.
Premier Peter Malinauskas has called on the Liberal Party to clarify their position on the SA voice to parliament, saying he doesn’t “for the life of me” understand their views on the issue.
It comes as Opposition Leader Vincent Tarzia gave very different answers to his deputy and Aboriginal affairs spokesman Josh Teague in separate radio appearances on Tuesday.
Mr Tarzia, appearing on ABC radio, described the voice as “over-bureaucratic”.
Asked if he would get rid of it if returned to government, he said, “If I had the power to do so it’s absolutely something that I would contemplate”.
On FIVEAA, Mr Teague said the voice was defective, but when asked if there would be a voice under a Liberal government, said “yes, there will”.
“What will happen is you’ll have a body that will be able to inspire confidence not only among broader South Australians but among Aboriginal people themselves,” Mr Teague said.
“I think it’s been over-bureaucratic and I can’t see a situation in the long term the Voice continues,” Mr Tarzia said on ABC radio.
“I think that to be honest, the days of the Voice are going to be certainly short lived because it’s not achieving what it set out to do.”
Mr Tarzia said there was an upcoming review in year three of the voice, and “that’s the time” for a decision on ending the voice to be made.
Mr Tarzia had previously told The Australian that the Voice would be repealed under a Liberal government, before later telling The Advertiser it would be “reformed”.
Mr Malinauskas said he’d be “happy to respond” to the Liberals position on the voice, if he knew what the position was.
“What is their policy, because it seems to change,” he said on Tuesday.
“We’ve had three different positions, a position was given to The Australian, a position that was given to FIVEAA radio, we had a position that was given to ABC radio.”
Mr Malinauskas said the government was “always looking to improve things”, pointing out that the Voice was relatively new.
“Much of the work that happens is behind the scenes where the voice has provided advice to government.
“Sometimes that advice is taken up, other times it isn’t.
“It is only an advisory body, but one that we think is important.
“I just don’t understand what the Liberal Party’s position is here.
“They’re saying they’re repealing it, then they’re saying they’re keeping it, then they’re saying they’re reforming it.”
Liberals bring controversial voice into election race
The Liberal Party will “reform” South Australia’s First Nations Voice to parliament if elected to government in 2026.
SA has the first legislated voice to parliament in Australia, being a key election promise of Peter Malinauskas’ government, but Opposition Leader Vincent Tarzia said it was a “defective model”.
“A Liberal state government would reform the current version of the First Nations Voice to be one of genuine engagement and accountability,” Mr Tarzia said.
“We have struggled to find a single piece of legislation that has had meaningful engagement with the current voice under Labor, proving it is a defective model that won’t achieve practical outcomes.”
Mr Tarzia said the Liberals would re-establish the Aboriginal Affairs Committee and pursue a more “representative and accountable model of engagement”, including direct dialogue between Indigenous leaders and the parliament.
He said it was “more nuanced” than simply repealing the legislation.
“We consider the current model defective and we have always said that. That’s why we didn’t support it,” he said.
“For us it’s about ensuring what is there works rather than scrapping it.”
Aboriginal Affairs Minister Kyam Maher said the Opposition was “all over the shop” on the issue.
“We’ve heard they want to repeal it, and then not repeal but keep the body and add another layer of bureaucracy and expense by reporting to a Parliamentary Committee,” he said.
Mr Maher said the voice allowed Aboriginal community members to have a say in decisions that affect them, and had already made contributions to legislation as well as to the Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence.
“Rather than a committee of politicians, the Government seeks advice from Aboriginal leaders elected by their communities,” he said.
“The voice is an advisory body and governments can decide what to do with this advice.
“The voice was established after we conducted the most comprehensive consultation that has ever been conducted by a South Australian government with Aboriginal South Australians.”
SA’s Voice to parliament will cost taxpayers around $2.5 million over the next four years.
Much of that cost comes from elections for the regional representatives that make up the state voice.
The voice has two levels: The local First Nations voices, which represent the six regions of South Australia, and the state voice, which consists of two members from each local voice.
The first election in 2024 saw just 2583 formal ballots cast out of 30,000 eligible voters.
The next elections are due to take place alongside the 2026 state election.
Originally published as Mali calls for clarification after Tarzia and Teague give differing answers on Libs’ voice position
