Anthony Albanese says Voice won’t be legislated if referendum fails

The Prime Minister says he’s still hopeful that Australians will vote “Yes” in the upcoming referendum, as he’s ruled out an alternative.

Anthony Albanese has defiantly ruled out legislating a Voice to parliament if the referendum fails next weekend, saying it would be “inappropriate”.

When asked if he would “walk away altogether” from the Voice in the event of a No vote, the Prime Minister responded: “correct”.

“Indigenous Australians have said they want a Voice that’s enshrined (in the constitution),” he told ABC’s Insiders.

“What they don’t want to do is what they’ve done time and time again, which is to part of establishing representative organisations, only to see, for opportunistic reasons, a government to come in and just abolish it.”

On Saturday, Australians will head to the polls to vote in the first referendum since 1999, where they will be asked whether they agree to enshrine an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice in the constitution.

Already, about two million people, including the Prime Minister, have voted in pre-polling.

All published polls have the referendum on track to fail, but Mr Albanese says he remains hopeful that Australians will come together and vote Yes.

He reiterated what the Indigenous leaders who gathered at Uluru, and Yes campaigners throughout the leadup to the referendum have been saying, that enshrining a Voice in the constitution rather than legislating it ensures that it cannot be repealed unless there is another referendum.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese cast his vote for the Voice early on Sunday alongside his son Nathan. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

The Opposition have been leading the charge in calling for the Prime Minister to legislate a Voice and put recognition only to the Australian people in a referendum.

Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley earlier told Sky News it was a “lose-lose” whatever the result was next Saturday, but the country needed to ensure it “came together” the day after to move forward.

“It will be bad, divisive, and unhappy for Australians the next day. So we do need to bring the country together,” she said.

“I won’t be happy, by the way, if No wins. I will be voting No with a heavy heart.”

She said the Liberal Party was still committed to legislating regional and local voices, and remained determine to recognising Indigenous Australians in the constitution without the “divisive” Voice.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton last month announced his intention to hold a second referendum for First Nations’ recognition if the Coalition were to win the next election, but later watered down his commitment after Senator Price declined to back it.

Ms Ley said a second referendum, coupled with legislating local and regional voices “backs in our determination to recognise Indigenous Australians in our constitution”

Mr Albanese said he would ‘walk away’ from the Voice if the referendum failed because Indigenous people did not want legislation. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

As he pleaded with undecided Australians to vote Yes in the Voice to Parliament referendum, Mr Albanese also doubled down in declaring one of the No campaign’s key arguments “the great lie”

He said Yes campaigns always had the tougher job in convincing Australians, pointing to the fact that just eight of 44 referendums in Australia’s history have been successful, but said the arguments levelled by the No campaign had been harmful and dishonest.

Mr Albanese said Coalition Indigenous Australians spokeswoman and leading No campaigner Jacinta Nampijinpa Price’s claims that the Voice will divide Australia by race was “the great lie”.

“There is race powers now in our Constitution,” Mr Albanese told ABC Insiders.

“And what this (referendum) is about is Indigenous issues, not race... Every other former colony in the world... has recognised its first peoples in its founding document.

“(Having a Voice) allows (Indigenous peoples) to be listened to. Recognise the special relationship with 65,000 years of connection to land and waters gives to Indigenous Australians. “

Asked whether Senator Price was “lying to Australians”, Mr Albanese said it “was not true to say this is divisive”.

“This is an opportunity to bring the country together,” he said.

He said Australia was “last in the queue” when it came to acknowledging the role of Indigenous Australians in its history.

“A vote for yes is a vote to show respect to Indigenous Australians. It’s an opportunity for non-Indigenous Australians to lift that burden up, but it’s something that will also be seen by much of the world,” he said.

He said the world was watching closely.

“Australia is being... for how we’re perceived, and it will be seen as an uplifting moment,” he said.

“It will be seen that Australia has come to terms with their history, that we’re a mature nation, and we’d be diminished if we vote No.”