Voice not woke, says Liberal Yes champion, but needs more detail

A key Liberal advocate for the Voice to parliament will step up the campaign for the change with a message to voters that it is “not a woke agenda” and is the best chance for reconciliation as long as Australians are given more detail about how it will work.

NSW Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg will back the Voice as a practical way to help Indigenous Australians in a significant new argument at a time when Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is casting doubt on the change.

Senator Andrew Bragg says the Voice to parliament is the best chance to advance reconciliation.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

But Bragg will call for the release of a draft bill to set up the Voice so that Australians know how it will work before the referendum later this year, adding to his previous arguments for a parliamentary inquiry to consider the details.

“It’s a contribution to the nation. The best shot at reconciliation. This is not a ‘woke’ agenda. It’s not identity politics and it isn’t a separatist agenda which denigrates Australia,” he writes in the paper to be released on Wednesday.

“This isn’t a Labor project, it’s an Australian project.

“Of all the major ideas put forward to advance reconciliation, from a national treaty through to misguided attempts to change history through moving Australia Day, the Voice is the best idea with the highest chance of broad-based support.”

Targeting conservatives with his message, Bragg cites a public call by former prime minister John Howard in 2007 to ensure the recognition of First Australians as an example of support for the concepts behind the Yes campaign.

“I believe we must find room in our national life to formally recognise the special status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as the first peoples of our nation,” Howard said in a speech that year.

Dutton wrote to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in early January with 15 questions about the Voice including how its representatives would be chosen and how much power they would have, but the government has declined to answer those questions and said they would be decided by parliament after the referendum.

Dutton stepped up his call on Tuesday by saying the government could pass legislation before the referendum to show how the Voice would work.

“I think what would give people more assurance is if there is a bill that can explain how it’s going to work because there are different models,” he told ABC Radio.

“If you’re changing the law, as the government can do now ... they can introduce the Voice by way of legislation tomorrow and they could demonstrate how it works.”

Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney rebuffed the calls for detail but conservative critics of the Voice are seeking answers on whether the Voice would lead to a seat on national cabinet or input into decisions by ministers and departments as well as parliament.

Asked if the Voice would lead to a seat in national cabinet, Burney did not say yes or no.

Bragg emphasised the need for consultation with First Australians, especially with local communities, but spelt out the need for a detailed plan.

“There should be an exposure draft bill or at least a detailed policy which sets out the government’s proposal for the local and regional voices, as well as the national voice,” he writes.

“Without the detail, it will be impossible to set out how the Voice will improve lives and the nation overall. At a minimum, we need to understand how the new local/regional/national Voice is going to interact with the government and how this is going to help close the gap.”

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