Opposition to name Liberal Party MPs to vote against an Indigenous voice to parliament so they can help author ‘no’ essay

Liberal Party politicians will be nominated to vote against the government’s Indigenous voice to parliament constitution alteration bill so they can help write the 2000-word No pamphlet ahead of the referendum.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

The Liberal Party will nominate a number of its MPs – including potentially shadow cabinet ministers – to vote against the Constitution alteration bill that establishes the Indigenous voice to parliament and executive government so they can help write the No pamphlet.

The Australian understands an MP must have voted against the Constitution alteration bill in order to contribute to the No essay, or voted for it if they want to participate in writing the Yes essay.

Both essays will be 2000 words respectively.

While Peter Dutton has said the Liberal Party was inclined to support the government’s legislation that lays out the wording of the voice constitutional amendment and question to be put to the people so the referendum can proceed, some of his MPs must be designated to vote against the bill.

Liberal sources said how that process would occur, how many MPs would be chosen to oppose the bill and who they were would likely be decided by the partyroom, but there were already discussions afoot in shadow cabinet.

The majority of members and senators who vote for or against the Constitution alteration bill, which is due to be debated in the House of Representatives next week and passed by the Senate in June, must authorise the respective pamphlets.

If no Liberals were designated to oppose the bill, it would be left to the Nationals, One Nation, United Australia Party senator Ralph Babet and possibly independent Victorian senator Lidia Thorpe to write the No case.

Liberal MP Julian Leeser, who quit shadow cabinet to campaign Yes ahead of the referendum, on Wednesday confirmed he would put forward two amendments he said would improve the bill, and warning that the electoral prospects for the voice were “not tracking as they should”.

The latest Resolve poll published on Wednesday showed support for the voice had fallen from 58 to 53 per cent in a month. If the downward trend is not reversed, it puts the No vote ahead of the Yes vote by August.

Mr Leeser’s amendments would remove the proposed second clause and preamble, which says “in recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Peoples of Australia”.

The second clause says the voice “may make representations to the parliament and the executive government of the commonwealth on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples”.

Mr Leeser believes the parliament should decide who it makes representations to and what it makes representations about via legislation, not the Constitution.

The Australian understands some Liberal MPs want the party to put forward its own amendments, after its members and senators involved in the parlia­mentary committee scrutinising the voice referendum recommended four alternative options to the government’s proposal.

They included backing the Leeser model; clarifying it would be up to parliament to decide what obligations the executive government had to consider and respond to the voice’s representations; adding a new section so that parliament could prevent or restrict the voice from pursuing judicial review proceedings in the High Court; and limiting who the voice could make representations to in parliament.

Liberal MP Keith Wolahan, deputy chair of the voice referendum inquiry, said the government should seriously consider these options: “Support for the voice is in a polling spiral. If Labor want this to succeed, they will take seriously the options put forward to reduce constitutional risk.”