Linda Burney says the voice will see Indigenous people ‘heard, not just counted’ as Victorian Nationals vote to oppose

As Victorian Nationals unite to oppose voice, Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney says referendum can build on success of successful 1967 ‘yes’ vote.

Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney says the voice to parliament will allow First Nations people to be heard, not just counted, as she marked the 56th anniversary of the 1967 referendum.

On May 27, 1967, Australians voted to change the Constitution to count Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and have the Commonwealth make laws for them.

Speaking in the Northern Territory on Saturday, Ms Burney remembered “one of the most successful” referendums in Australian history.

“As a nation, we look back at the 1967 referendum, at Charles Perkins and his freedom rights, at more than a 90 per cent vote ‘yes’ which was done with great pride,” she said on Saturday.

“Remembering people who brought us to the ‘67 referendum reminds us that this ‘yes’ did not happen on its own.

“In 2023, Australians can again vote ‘yes’ … this time for constitutional recognition through a voice.”

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney attend the Inner West BBQ for The Voice to Parliament at Petersham Park in Sydney. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

The Indigenous Australians Minister criticised Opposition leader Peter Dutton for “playing politics on the voice” but said she had “every faith” in the Australian people to pass the referendum.

“Next week, in the House of Representatives there will be a vote on the Constitutional Alteration Bill to allow us to have the referendum later this year,” Ms Burney said.

“And if Peter Dutton was fair dinkum about supporting reconciliation, if he was fair dinkum about uniting and not dividing, then Mr Dutton would vote in favour of the bill next week. And Mr Dutton would vote ‘yes’ in the referendum later this year.”

The comments come as the Victorian Nationals all voted at a conference on Saturday to formally oppose the voice, a decision that was praised by federal Victorian MP Bridget McKenzie.

“An historic morning as the Victorian Nationals formally vote to oppose Albanese’s divisive Voice to Parliament,” she wrote on social media.

Mr Dutton conceded in The Australian that reconciliation may be set back if the voice to parliament and executive government failed.

Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton during Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“Does it set back reconciliation? I think there is a chance that it sets back reconciliation because there are a lot of people who have had their hopes built up by the Prime Minister,” he said.

“And I know that there are a lot of Indigenous leaders who believe that the Prime Minister, when he says that this is not his baby, he’s just carrying it for others, that he’s not giving it his all.”