Indigenous leader Noel Pearson slams Peter Dutton for backing ‘no’ campaign in Voice to Parliament

Indigenous leader Noel Pearson has unleashed on Peter Dutton in an extraordinary rant on radio for backing the No vote against the Voice to Parliament.

Liberal leader Peter Dutton has been accused of a “Judas betrayal of our country” by campaigning for the No vote against Anthony Albanese’s proposal for constitutional recognition.

The Coalition has confirmed it will campaign for the “no case” against the current model of the Voice to Parliament but allow backbenchers a conscience vote.

The position, which was reached following a lengthy party room meeting, will require frontbenchers who support the proposal to resign or fall into line and back the Coalition position.

But Noel Pearson, a Cape York Indigenous leader and one of the architects of the Uluru statement, has compared the opposition leader to an “undertaker” burying the Uluru statement.

“I couldn’t sleep last night,’’ he told ABC Radio.

“I was troubled by dreams and the spectre of darkness, the Liberal Party’s Judas betrayal of our country.

“They’ve had 11 years of power to work on a proper proposal for recognition.”

Mr Dutton says he does not believe the voice to parliament is in the country’s best interest, as he continues to defend the Liberal party’s formal position.

Indigenous leader Noel Pearson. Picture: John Feder/The Australian

Mr Pearson said the Liberal Party leader’s position was unforgivable.

“I see the leader of the Liberal Party, Mr. Dutton, as an undertaker,” he said.

“Preparing the grave for Uluru. It’s a very sad day for Australia, that we can’t have bipartisanship.

“But nevertheless, I am certain that every attempt to try and kill Uluru and bury it, it will not succeecd. The Australian people will rise to the historical opportunity we have to achieve conciliation at last.”

Mr Dutton has hit the campaign trail today and was asked what he plans to do if he ends up on “the wrong side of history.”

“We’re in favour of constitutional recognition. We’ve made it very clear,’’ he said.

“I’m happy to sit down with the Prime Minister to work that through today. We’re very much in favour of practical outcomes providing support for those young girls and boys and women who are suffering domestic violence rates at completely at utterly appalling rates. We’re happy to provide support tactically, for those outcomes, and that is absolutely the right side of history.”

Mr Dutton has attacked Anthony Albanese’s “divisive Canberra Voice”, suggesting many indigenous leaders he’s spoken to describe it as “a group of academics and it won’t represent their views on the ground.”

“I don’t think it will deliver the practical outcomes we want for Indigenous people on the ground in places like Alice Springs. It will change the system of government as we know it. I think we need to be cautious,” Mr Dutton told Channel Seven.

“We have been asking questions in a respectful way, but I do not believe this is in the country’s best interest. I think it divides the country instead of uniting it. I think there is a better way.”

Peter Dutton. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Mr Dutton said the voice had been described as a “voice for the elites” that won’t deliver outcomes.

“We want to improve the situation for people in Indigenous communities. But when you change the Constitution, you change it for good,” he said.

Mr Dutton said he believed in individual Liberals expressing their views but almost all members shared his position.

“In our party, we believe in the individual and their ability to express their view. There would be 99% of our members in Canberra who support our position.”

Liberal frontbencher Simon Birmingham said he hopes that through the parliamentary committee process, the Voice can be “salvaged”.

“There is still the parliamentary committee process … I hope through that process, perhaps there can still be a means of salvaging something that can provide for the country, a unifying and bipartisan moment but also something that is achieved without the type of risks or concerns to constitution and operation of government that have increasingly been discussed through the course of this debate,’’ he said.

Asked whether he would campaign against the voice, Senator Birmingham said: “I am going to respect the views of the Australian people and that is the approach I will take.”

“Constitutional recognition has the potential to have support from all parties and all sides and achieve an outcome where we can still have a legislative voice operating in local communities around the country and with that, providing input for those communities.”