Better late than never: Malcolm Turnbull finds voice

Malcolm Turnbull’s change of heart over a voice to parliament has come ‘better late than never’, according to advocates for constitutional recognition.

Malcolm Turnbull now says he would vote in favour of the voice at a referendum despite conceding it would still ‘be politically very challenging’ to pass a law that the voice opposed. Picture: AFP

Malcolm Turnbull’s change of heart over a voice to parliament has come “better late than never”, according to advocates for constitutional recognition, with Indigenous leaders hopeful the former prime minister’s comments will push support for the voice over the line.

Mr Turnbull on Monday back-tracked on his former position as prime minister when he and his cabinet rejected the voice. At the time, he said a voice was not “desirable” and would “inevitably become seen as a third chamber of parliament”.

Mr Turnbull now says he would vote in favour of the voice at the upcoming referendum despite conceding it would still “be politically very challenging” to pass a law that the voice opposed.

Australians for Indigenous Constitutional Recognition co-chair Danny Gilbert said the “whole point” of a voice to parliament would be for it to be influential and politically powerful. “And why shouldn’t it be so? These are people whose lives are still today subject to virtual supervision by the state reliance on welfare,” he told The Australian.

“Indigenous Australians more than any other group have a ­future of utter dependency on the state. This is an intolerable situation that they should have no structural voice, given the history of dispossession and destruction that Australia’s polity has visited on Indigenous Australians over 240 years.”

Mr Gilbert said the fact a former prime minister was “prepared to change his mind” could be “very influential”.

Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney said she welcomed Mr Turnbull’s support for a voice and looked forward to working with him. “The voice to parliament … is above politics,” she told The Australian.

“Mr Turnbull’s decision to back the voice to parliament shows people can change their minds on this issue. We all grow, we all change. That’s what reconciliation is all about.”

Mr Turnbull wrote in The Guardian on Monday that “despite my previous concerns, the voice as proposed by Anthony Albanese won’t be a third chamber, and it has sufficient public support … While I have some misgivings, I am satisfied that on balance as a nation, we are better advised to approve the proposal than ­reject it.”

He said he was convinced by the detail that came out of the voice co-design process, spearheaded by Marcia Langton and Tom Calma.

Professor Calma told the Australian Mr Turnbull’s previous stance on the voice and the ­notion it would be a third chamber “had a negative impact” on the campaign for constitutional recognition.

“It got many of the population taking the word of the prime minister of the day,” he said.

“The positive side is it enabled us to go out and clarify that it wasn’t going to be a third chamber and was never intended to be.”

Professor Calma said he was hopeful Mr Turnbull’s public about-face on the voice would “give a bit of confidence to those who might follow him” and create more support for the voice ahead of a referendum.

Arnold Bloch Leibler senior partner and co-chair of a panel for constitutional recognition Mark Leibler said Mr Turnbull’s comments on Monday were “not as impactful as it would have been” when he was prime minister but he thought his change of heart would “have an impact” on the debate.

One of the architects of the Uluru Statement from the Heart Megan Davis said Mr Turnbull’s comments in 2017 were “a setback” but his change of heart was “tremendously significant … It (voice) was never a third chamber and this puts that to rest.”