Anthony Albanese says Australians will judge Peter Dutton’s ‘wallowing negativity’

Anthony Albanese says he expects more Australians to side with his ‘positive’ campaign than will endorse the Opposition Leader for his ‘wallowing negativity’.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Australians will judge Peter Dutton should the Opposition Leader “continue to wallow in his negativity” in opposing the Voice.

Any doubt about Mr Dutton’s position on the referendum was laid to rest on Tuesday after he appointed “No” campaigner and freshman Nationals senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price to fill Julian Leeser’s position as opposition spokesperson for Indigenous Affairs.

In making the announcement, Mr Dutton said Senator Price would do “an outstanding job in leading the charge for better outcomes” for Indigenous Australians, just “not through the Prime Minister’s Canberra Voice”.

Mr Albanese said while he welcomed her “considerable promotion”, the Coalition’s opposition to the Voice model was clearly an ongoing reluctance to face hard truths.

He said he was confident Australians would take a positive approach to the Voice.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Australians ‘will judge’ Opposition Leader Peter Dutton. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nicholas Eagar

“Peter Dutton can continue to wallow in his negativity, I think Australians will judge him for that,” he told Sky News.

“What I’m about is having a positive agenda for the country.”

Speaking on the same program earlier, Mr Dutton said he believed Senator Price’s appointment to shadow cabinet would help the Coalition convince Australians that the Voice model as it currently exists is not right for the country.

“We want to make sure that we hear from those local and regional people about how we can improve situations on the ground, and I believe very strongly that that should be done in legislation – not in the constitution,” he said.

“I strongly advocate for people to vote no … We’re up to our third form of words from the Prime Minister on the table.

“I think there are a lot of reasons why, when Australians start to take an interest in the Voice, that they will decide not to support it.

“And I think that’s appropriate because I think the Liberal Party position actually unites the country, whereas the Prime Minister’s position clearly divides the country.”

Peter Dutton appointed Senator Jacinta Price to the opposition’s spokesperson for Indigenous affairs. Picture: NCA/NewsWire Emma Brasier

Mr Albanese also would not be drawn on whether he believed he would face Mr Dutton as Opposition Leader at the next federal election, saying it was a matter for the party.

“I think what is very clear is they are focused very much on themselves, they haven’t come to terms with the election loss last year and when they lost the by-election in Aston … (Dutton’s) response was to call a party room meeting with two days notice, have a meeting that determined to vote no for the Voice, but said they’d have local and regional voices and a national voice, then do a press conference and say they wouldn’t have a national voice,” he said.

“I’d just leave Peter Dutton and those matters for the internals of the Liberal party and the National party.”