Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says ‘it’s absolutely the right thing to do’ to vote yes to the Voice

Daniel Andrews has taken aim at federal opposition leader Peter Dutton for his “pretty poor stance” on the Voice to Parliament referendum.

Daniel Andrews has refused to confirm whether Victorian taxpayers will fund a state-based campaign promoting the proposed Voice to Parliament.

The Premier on Tuesday said it was his hope that all Victorians voted yes in the upcoming referendum, but wouldn’t say if he had plans to roll out an advertising campaign.

“I want everyone to vote yes, because I think it’s absolutely the right thing to do,” he said.

“Just think about the message we’d be sending to the world if a majority of voters in a majority of states didn’t vote yes. Just think about that for a moment, that we don’t think it’s appropriate to recognise the oldest culture in history. That just doesn’t make any sense to me. Of course we should vote yes.

“We have to make this change. The time has come. We’ve talked about this stuff for too long and we’ve got to keep moving forward.

Daniel Andrews says ‘of course we should vote yes’ to the proposed Voice to Parliament. Picture: AAP

“As for announcements about campaigning and taking that support a step further, I’m not here to make those today.”

Earlier this month, Mr Andrews joined his first minister counterparts in signing a joint statement declaring public support to back the voice.

“We’re all very supportive of constitutional recognition of the oldest continuous culture known to human history,” he said.

“And we’re also very supportive of giving First Nations Australians a direct voice. We’ve got that here in Victoria, it’s worked very well.

“It was pretty curious to see Victorian Liberals aligning themselves with a pretty poor stance put forward by (federal opposition leader) Peter Dutton and others.

“It is an advisory body … The notion that we should be alarmed by these things makes no sense at all.”

Peter Dutton. Picture: Gary Ramage

Daniel Andrews. Picture: David Geraghty

State opposition leader John Pesutto has called on the Albanese government to provide Australians with more detail on the Voice.

“I think my sense, from just general discussions that I have with Victorians, is that they want some clear idea of what the institution would actually look like,” Mr Pesutto said on Tuesday.

“I think for Australians, generally, they want to know what the Albanese government’s view on that is going to be.

“I certainly, like a lot of other Australians, just want to see a bit more detail from what the government is thinking, should the referendum get up, and I’d like to see just a bit more information about what that institution would look like.”

Mr Pesutto said he was open and willing to participate in debate around the Voice “in a very constructive and respectful and sensitive way”.

“I’m open to the debate and I want to participate in that debate. I think all Australians should participate in that debate and I’m reserving my position until I’ve had a chance to digest more of what the government’s thinking might be on this,” he said.