Former Indigenous minister Ken Wyatt quits Liberal Party over Voice decision

Former Indigenous minister Ken Wyatt has quit the Liberal Party after its federal MPs revealed their position on the Voice to parliament.

Former cabinet minister Ken Wyatt has quit the Liberal Party after its federal MPs decided to oppose the Indigenous Voice to parliament.

The first Aboriginal person to hold the Indigenous Australians portfolio, Mr Wyatt handed in his resignation the day after the Liberal party room voted to reject the government’s plan to enshrine the advisory body in the Constitution.

“I still believe in the Liberal Party values but I don’t believe in what the Liberals have become,” Mr Wyatt told The West Australian newspaper on Thursday.

“Aboriginal people are reaching out to be heard but the Liberals have rejected their invitation.”

In a statement on Friday afternoon, a WA Liberal Party spokesman said: “we wish Mr Wyatt well for the future”.

The longtime Voice advocate lost his Perth-based seat at the 2022 federal election and went on to join the working group of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders advising the Albanese government on its referendum strategy.

Mr Wyatt, who was contacted for comment, stood with Anthony Albanese and other members of the referendum working group as the Prime Minister revealed the wording of the proposed constitutional change in an emotional press conference in Canberra a fortnight ago.

Former Indigenous Australians minister Ken Wyatt has quit the Liberal Party over its position on the Voice to parliament. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Mr Albanese confirmed the Voice would have the power to advise executive government as well as the parliament of the day.

The government maintains that amending the Constitution is the form of recognition 250 Indigenous leaders asked for when they put their names to the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart.

The statement was signed after a six-month consultation process with more than 1200 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representatives in a dozen regional dialogues across Australia.

Mr Wyatt was the Indigenous health minister when the Coalition Turnbull government rejected the version of the Indigenous Voice put forward in the Uluru Statement.

Then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull said at the time the proposal was neither desirable nor capable of winning acceptance at a referendum.

Mr Turnbull, who appears to have changed his mind, publicly offered his support to Mr Wyatt after news of his decision to quit the Liberal Party broke on Thursday.

“And a big hug for Ken from me too. He is a wise history making leader and now with a referendum to win. We will be voting YES with millions of Australians,” Mr Turnbull wrote on Twitter.

And a big hug for Ken from me too. He is a wise history making leader and now with a referendum to win. We will be voting YES with millions of Australians. https://t.co/HAavx3T6kn

— Malcolm Turnbull (@TurnbullMalcolm) April 6, 2023

Mr Wyatt was also a minister in the Morrison government when another version of the voice was being considered.

Announcing the Liberals’ decision to oppose the Voice on Wednesday, Peter Dutton confirmed he would actively campaign for Australians to vote “no” in the referendum on embedding the advisory body in the nation’s founding document.

The Opposition Leader told reporters the Liberal party room had agreed to support establishing local and regional Voices which would be legislated but not enshrined in the Constitution.

Mr Dutton said he would back a constitutional amendment to add symbolic recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples but he wouldn’t confirm if he’d support another referendum to make this possible.

Liberal backbenchers will be allowed a conscience vote but shadow ministers will be bound by the party’s position, meaning any frontbencher who supports the Voice will need to fall in line or resign from the frontbench.

A majority of Australians in a majority of states will need to vote “yes” in this year’s referendum — which will be held sometime between October and December — in order for the Constitution to be changed.