Anthony Albanese woos religious yes vote

The Prime Minister on Sunday attended a service at Ashfield Uniting Church in Sydney to spruik the voice to parliament, struggling in the polls.

Anthony Albanese and Liberal MP Julian Leeser, right, attend a service at the Ashfield Uniting Church in Sydney as the organisation backs the voice to parliament. Picture: Noah Yim/The Australian

Anthony Albanese is planning to set up a joint parliamentary committee to oversee legislation for the voice if the Yes campaign is successful on October 14.

The Prime Minister announced the plans on Sunday at Ashfield Uniting Church in western Sydney, where he had attended the morning service as the church reaffirmed its support for the voice to parliament three weeks from voting day. .

Mr Albanese was joined by former opposition frontbencher Julian Leeser – who in April moved to the backbench citing the Coalition’s opposition to the voice – and Assistant Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy.

The church is also the home of the Bill Crews Foundation, a charitable organisation. Reverend Crews conducted the Sunday morning service.

In a speech after the service, Mr Albanese spruiked the voice to parliament.

“Today I announce and confirm that if Australians vote yes, in three weeks’ time, I will propose a broad joint parliamentary committee, with co-chairs from Labor and the Coalition, to oversee the development of legislation for the voice advisory group,” Mr Albanese said.

“I indicated this when I met with Peter Dutton and David Littleproud way back in March and I’ve confirmed that in a discussion that I’ve had with Peter Dutton just over this weekend.

“I think it’s important that if Australians vote yes, that we move forward together to put in place the legislation with as broad support as possible, in order to show the same spirit that we’re asking Australians to show by voting yes on October 14.”

The 2021 census found the Uniting Church was the nation’s third-largest Christian denomination, behind the Anglicans and Catholics.

“We say yes to the First Nations voice because of Uniting’s and the Uniting Church’s ongoing commitment to reconciliation, justice, and the full recognition of First Nations people,” said Tracey Burton, executive director of Uniting NSW and ACT, the community services ministry of the broader church.

“Uniting believes that to close the gaps and improve the lives of First Nations communities, we need to listen to their knowledge and experience.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with the Assistant Minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy (left), and a member of the Ashfield Uniting Church congregation. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Monique Harmer

Mr Albanese thanked “ all the faith groups, including the Uniting Church, who are all coming together, whether they be Christian groups, Islamic groups, Jewish groups, Hindus, all coming together in unison for support”.

The Uniting Church is among a number of religious organisations to have expressed support for the voice to parliament: the General Synod of the Anglican Church in 2017 expressed support for a “constitutionally entrenched First Nations voice to the commonwealth parliament”, and earlier this year affirmed it is “committed to reconciliation and to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices being heard in the life of our nation”.

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry earlier this month said its councillors had “voted overwhelmingly to support a Yes vote in the upcoming referendum”.

Last week, the Australian National Imams Council endorsed the voice to parliament, saying “Australian Muslims strongly support the constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through the establishment of a voice to parliament”.

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference in May said a voice to parliament “could be a significant step towards a more just and equitable Australia”.

“We want to encourage all Australians to educate themselves as well as possible concerning the proposal to establish the voice,” a Bishops Conference spokesman said.