Anthony Albanese says the voice will have no power of veto yet some senators persist with allegations

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has accused some politicians who oppose the Indigenous voice to parliament of dishonesty by proposing scenarios they know to be impossible.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has accused some politicians who oppose the Indigenous voice to parliament of dishonesty by proposing scenarios they know to be impossible. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Martin Ollman

Anthony Albanese has accused some politicians who oppose the Indigenous voice to parliament of dishonesty by proposing scenarios they know to be impossible.

On Friday, the Prime Minister again rejected the opposition’s call for the voice referendum to be delayed and pared back to a question about constitutional recognition only.

Mr Albanese’s comments came as mining giant BHP donated $2m to the Yes campaign, matching the donation of Rio Tinto.

BHP revealed the donation on Friday, as the company released the latest update to its reconciliation action plan, which reiterates BHP’s ongoing support for a Yes vote at the referendum and promises to “connect our workforce to information about a voice and the matters it is seeking to address”.

Peter Dutton has proposed that Australians are asked at a referendum whether the constitution should be altered to simply acknowledge the existence of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people before white settlement.

The current referendum question asks Australians if they agree to an amendment in the constitution to acknowledge Indigenous Australians through the establishment of an Indigenous body that can make representations to the parliament and the executive government.

The referendum is widely expected to be held in October, though Mr Albanese is yet to announce the date.

Mr Albanese said he respected that some people did not want the constitution to change “but some of the arguments that are put forward, that people know are not true, the people putting them forward know are not true”.

Mr Albanese said the voice would not have any veto right over any parliamentary legislation, yet some opponents persisted with claims that it would.

“I don’t believe that senators arguing that a road in Victoria was going to be the subject of the voice believe that that’s the case,” he said.

“I don’t think that the people who ask questions in the parliament this week about interest rates and the Reserve Bank don’t understand that the Reserve Bank is independent.

“The idea that the voice is going to sit around and the governor of the Reserve Bank is going to say, ‘Oh, I wonder what the voice thinks?’ – like, seriously.

“This debate is too important for that politicisation. And people, I think, have to rise to the occasion.”

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the prime minister was taking the country down a “divisive path”. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Martin Ollman

The Opposition Leader said Mr Albanese had made a “catastrophic mistake” in his handling of the voice referendum and that he was taking the country down a “divisive path”.

Mr Dutton said the two major parties “could come together” to provide constitutional recognition to prevent the “setback” of reconciliation if the referendum was to fail.

“I think there are millions of Australians who just want to know what it is they’re being asked to vote for,” Mr Dutton said at a conference on the Gold Coast. “All of us want a better outcome for Indigenous Australians, particularly in regional and remote areas. I agree that it sets back reconciliation (if the referendum fails) and if the Prime Minister is set on that course going into an election or going to a referendum election knowing that it’s going to fail and that reconciliation will be set back, he should delay it or pull it back altogether.”

The leaders pressed their positions on Friday after a week of debate about what the voice would advise on. The proposed constitutional amendment says the voice can make representations on matters affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. However, an explanatory memorandum published alongside the government’s referendum bill in March said it would be impractical and unrealistic for the voice to offer advice on everything that affects Indigenous Australians.

While Uluru Dialogue co-chair Megan Davis and fellow constitutional expert Gabrielle Appleby have argued that the scope of the voice is its strength, they have also said the voice will need to spend its political capital wisely or risk losing relevance and authority.