Floated notion of NSW Indigenous voice sunk by Nationals leaders

Senior NSW government ministers discussed implementing a state-based voice to parliament, but the idea was ultimately scrapped after senior Nationals leaders torpedoed the proposal.

NSW Aboriginal Affairs Minister Ben Franklin. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

Senior NSW government ministers discussed implementing a state-based voice to parliament, but the idea was ultimately scrapped after senior Nationals leaders torpedoed the proposal.

The Australian understands discussions were held at the end of last year, led by Aboriginal Affairs Minister Ben Franklin, which if successful would have made NSW the second state after South Australia to proceed with a legislated First Nations advisory body.

But the proposal ran aground amid opposition by senior NSW Nationals, including leader Paul Toole and deputy leader Bronnie Taylor, before it could proceed to broader discussion in the Nationals partyroom.

In response to a series of questions, Mr Franklin’s office said “a NSW-based voice to parliament isn’t on the agenda”.

One NSW Nationals source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Mr Toole had not been in favour of the proposal, saying he was already apprehensive about backing the government’s position in support of the Albanese government’s constitutionally-enshrined voice. “He doesn’t want to touch it, he thinks the issue is poison. This is a very complicated issue in the regions, and he sees it as a federal issue and doesn’t want it to ventilate any further,” the source said.

Mr Toole declined to comment.

It is understood the NSW government’s support for the voice was never formally discussed in the Nationals partyroom, with one source characterising it as an “informal discussion” about how MPs would navigate the issue politically in their respective constituencies.

In early December, the NSW Nationals broke ranks with their federal counterparts to support the voice, with Mr Franklin saying while he believed more details were needed from the commonwealth, the state government supported the proposal in principle.

“The NSW government understands the importance of Aboriginal voices being heard and is already listening through a range of relationships,” he told The Daily Telegraph newspaper.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has said he supports the voice “in principle” but has backed the approach of Peter Dutton, saying his request for more details was spot on.