Barnaby Joyce makes shock admission about Voice in fiery clash

A claim the upcoming Voice could spell the end of public holidays such as Anzac Day has been put to the test in a fiery interview with Barnaby Joyce.

Barnaby Joyce has conceded a Voice to parliament would not be able to veto public holidays, such as Anzac Day or Australia Day, despite suggestions otherwise from his Coalition colleagues.

Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley first made the “de facto veto” accusation last week when she claimed the government had left the Voice’s powers “deliberately undefined”.

But the former deputy prime minister, and now a Nationals backbencher, accepted that wasn’t the case during a fiery interview with ABC’s Patricia Karvelas.

“They can‘t veto but they can certainly question the process of consultation,” Mr Joyce told ABC’s RN after trying to dismiss the issue as “going to the minutiae”.

“Anyone can question anything, it doesn’t mean you have influence,” Karvelas interjected.

Barnaby Joyce made the concession during a fiery interview with Patricia Karvelas. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

“When you’re talking to people from the No case, you’ve got to let them finish their answers Patricia,” he responded.

The radio host joked Mr Joyce wasn’t just from the No case, and that he was a “special case” because he was “always talking over her”.

“We’ve done this for years,” she said.

Mr Joyce, a staunch opponent to the referendum to enshrine an Indigenous advisory body in the Constitution, said it would be up to the High Court to decide whether the Voice was properly consulted on “issues like that,” referring to the Anzac Day question.

The backbencher said he also had concerns the referendum, due later this year, would insert “a racial clause” into the nation’s founding document.

“We agree with the local and regional bodies … I just don’t believe we should be inserting a racial clause in our Constitution in 2023,” Mr Joyce said.

Asked if he supported constitutional recognition at all, the Nationals MP said he had “no problems with the statement of fact that Indigenous Australians are the first people of Australia”.

But he stressed he could not support it without the release of the solicitor general’s advice.

On Monday evening, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese opened the door to changes to the wording of the constitutional amendment to be put to the people.

The Prime Minister left the door open to changes to the amendment. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

He said while the amendment as it stands was “legally sound” he would consider the recommendations of a bipartisan parliamentary committee when it hands down its report.

Mr Albanese added the second law officers advice would be “made very clear” through the Attorney-General but would not be released in full.

It comes as a new poll suggested that one in 10 Australians would be unlikely to vote in the referendum.

The Resolve survey, published in the Nine Newspapers on Tuesday, showed that 58 per cent voters back the Voice while only 42 per cent opposed the reform, when asked a yes or no question.

Speaking with WSFM on Tuesday morning, Mr Albanese urged undecided Australians to “get on Google” to read the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

“It’s beautiful. It’s poetry,” he told the Sydney radio station.

“There was five years of process and consultation, literally hundreds of meetings leading up to it. That’s where the Statement from the Heart came from.

“It's a really gracious request … asking us to just grasp the opportunity and I really hope that we do seize, as a nation, this once in a generation opportunity.”

Originally published as Barnaby Joyce makes shock admission about Voice in fiery clash