By Fergus Hunter
The Turnbull government has been accused of turning its back on Indigenous people after cabinet rejected the proposal for a constitutionally enshrined First Nations "Voice" based on fears it would be seen as a third chamber of Australia's Parliament.
Constitutional lawyer and Referendum Council member Megan Davis accused the government of "irresponsible" behaviour and Labor senator Patrick Dodson said the decision was disrespectful towards Indigenous people.
"There's nothing honourable about what's happened here," Senator Dodson said on Friday.
Cabinet knocked back the idea of an Indigenous "Voice to Parliament" - the central recommendation of a recent convention at Uluru and the Referendum Council's report - because it was not "desirable or capable of winning acceptance in a referendum". Mr Turnbull has now moved to develop a more modest proposal.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Lucy Turnbull and Minister for Indigenous Affairs Nigel Scullion at Indigenous event The Long Walk earlier this year. Credit: Stefan Postles
In a statement, Mr Turnbull, Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion and Attorney-General George Brandis said the idea of a representative assembly for Indigenous Australia - in addition to the House of Representatives and Senate - would be inconsistent with the fundamental democratic principle of all citizens having equal civic rights.
"It would inevitably become seen as a third chamber of Parliament," the trio said of the proposal, which called for an advisory body only without veto power over legislation.
The government said there were doubts about how the body would function, as well as whether such a "radical change to our constitution's representative institutions" have any realistic prospect of being supported by a majority of Australians at a referendum.
Senator Scullion said the proposal was guaranteed to fail, a result he predicted would have set back the cause of reconciliation by decades.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and Labor senator Pat Dodson at a meeting of the Indigenous Referendum Council in July.Credit: Dominic K Lorrimer
He emphasised that the Referendum Council's other recommendation, a "Makarrata" reconciliation commission that could oversee treaty-making, was still on the table. The proposal is backed by Labor.
A furious Mr Pearson accused the government of "egregiously dishonest" dog-whistling in their argument against the "Voice".
"Malcolm Turnbull has certainly consigned himself prematurely to a footnote in Australian prime ministerial history," the veteran activist and Referendum Council member told ABC radio.
"There's no reconciliation and recognition under this Prime Minister," he said.
Fellow council member Professor Davis also unloaded on the government's view of a perceived third chamber of Parliament, labelling the claim "deliberate mischief intended to mislead the Australian population".
"We live in a reform inert era in Australia, hobbled by leadership tensions in the government," Professor Davis told Fairfax Media.
"It is that political tension alone that has informed this response because the legal and political analysis proffered by the government is riddled with falsehoods."
Senator Dodson, the "Father of Reconciliation", said the government's conduct "wasn't honourable" because it had not properly consulted with its own Indigenous Advisory Council, Aboriginal leaders or the opposition.
"An advisory entity enshrined in the constitution is not necessarily a radical idea from an intellectual point of view," he told ABC radio, observing the Parliament would have been able to decide the details.
National Congress co-chair Jackie Huggins said: "People are disappointed that the Prime Minister and cabinet has not heard the aspirations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across the country."
The proposal for a Voice to Parliament emerged from a year-long national consultation process with Indigenous communities and a summit of 300 leaders at Uluru in May, which emphatically rejected recognition in the constitution that is merely symbolic.
The government has now backed Labor's suggestion of a parliamentary committee to decide on a final referendum proposal.
Hoping to rediscover bipartisanship, the government wants the committee to examine the high-level work conducted on Indigenous recognition over the last decade, including the 2012 expert panel and 2015 committee report.
Senator Dodson said the process was "at least a way to try and salvage something from this but it is disrespectful to the views of the Indigenous peoples" because their recommendations had been dismissed.
Conservative think tank the Institute of Public Affairs welcomed the government's decision.
"The Coalition government's decision to reject the divisive Indigenous-only 'Voice to Parliament' is a win for equality and liberal democracy," IPA policy director Simon Breheny said.
Former prime minister Tony Abbott also said it was the correct decision.
"Indigenous recognition should come in a way that brings all of us together and this proposal, for a further level of indigenous representation, was unlikely to achieve that," Mr Abbott said.