The Greens have decided to back the voice following the departure of Lidia Thorp

The Australian Greens have announced they will back the voice to the parliament just hours after former spokeswoman Lidia Thorpe quit the party.

The Australian Greens will support the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, a decision made without former spokeswoman Lidia Thorpe who quit the party hours earlier.

At a Party Room meeting in Canberra this evening, the Federal Greens Party Room resolved to support legislation to enable a referendum for a Voice to Parliament and to campaign for a Yes vote in the Referendum, pending sighting of the final bill.

The Voice Referendum legislation could now pass the Parliament regardless of what Peter Dutton and the Liberals do.

“The Greens were the first party to support all elements of the Uluru Statement from the Heart and today we reaffirm that commitment,” Leader Adam Bandt in a statement on Monday night.

“Following months of discussion with Labor which resulted in funding for Truth and Treaty and guarantees that First Nations Sovereignty will not be ceded, and after discussion with our party and our own Blak Greens network, the Greens will support the Voice referendum.

“We want the referendum to succeed, we want First Nations justice and we want Truth and Treaty as well as Voice.”

Mr Bandt said the Greens still “strongly believed” a treaty should come first, but it was necessary to support the Yes vote in the referendum.

“I don’t think a ‘No’ vote will get us closer to Treaty and Truth, but I respect that others in the First Nations community may have a different view on that,” he said.

“I will join my fellow Greens MPs in campaigning for Yes.“

It’s a win for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who also had welcoming news from a new Newspoll that revealed 56 per cent of Australians support a Voice to Parliament, while 37 per cent are against the proposal.

But after special envoy for reconciliation Patrick Dodson told The Australian an Indigenous voice should advise national cabinet, questions have arisen over the true extent of the proposed body’s powers.

Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong refused to be drawn on whether the voice would advise national cabinet on Monday morning.

Asked three times by ABC News host Michael Rowland, Senator Wong questioned whether people “having a say is a problem”.

Senator Patrick Dodson has suggested the voice should advise national cabinet as well as parliament and the government. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“We can be so much stronger as a nation. We can become more unified,” she said in response.

“And the first ministers – premiers and chief ministers – have demonstrated that. We want to walk down this path together … We will work through the detail of that together.”

Leader of the House Tony Burke said thinking “logically”, the voice “should be allowed to speak. And that means to both the parliament and the executive”.

He asked Australians not to get bogged down in the conversations about detail, particularly those being led by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.

“When we were deciding that we wanted defence to be part of the constitution, we didn’t provide the detail of how many ships we would have. We didn’t talk about the air force because there were no planes back then,” Mr Burke told ABC Radio.

“What we’re asking Australian people is whether or not there should be a voice.”

Mr Albanese said one of the main principles of the voice would be that its views would be released publicly.

“It won’t have a right of veto, it won’t be a funding body, it’s very clear with the principles that have been put out,” he said.

Anthony Albanese said the voice details would be sorted out after the vote. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

He reiterated his wish to see the voice be something that transcended politics.

“This should be above politics. This is something that is not for any political party, not for government, it’s something that has arisen from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people themselves,” he said.

“And we should answer the gracious call and. Polls come and go, what matters is when people cast their vote.

“But I ask people to think about the generosity of spirit … the call for Indigenous recognition in our constitution and consultation on matters that affect them will not have an impact on most people’s lives, but it might just make some lives – some of the most disadvantaged people in the country – their lives better.”

Mr Dutton and his Liberal colleagues are yet to reach a party room decision on whether they will support the voice.

Mr Dutton said he would attend another meeting of the referendum working group later this week.

Meanwhile, independent senator Jacqui Lambie on Monday said she was inclined to vote “no” in the referendum, citing she is more concerned about the issues surrounding Alice Springs at the moment.

“I want to see what action can be done. Is this just some nice words to put in the constitution because frankly, I want to see what changes are going to be made,” she told Nine.

“If they can’t do anything in Alice Springs, why all this trouble to change some words? We have all the guards and representatives in the chamber, and nothing seems to be working.

“I’m a ‘no’ at this point – don’t speak about action, I want to see action taken.”

Originally published as The Greens have decided to back the voice following the departure of Lidia Thorp