Momentum growing’: Anthony Albanese to start countdown to voice vote

Anthony Albanese will on Wednesday start the countdown to the referendum, as he commits to a national poll within 12 months.

Anthony Albanese is set to begin the countdown to a referendum on an Indigenous voice to parliament. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

Anthony Albanese will declare momentum is growing to enshrining an Indigenous voice in the Constitution and, on Wednesday, start the countdown to the referendum, as he commits to holding a national poll in the next 12 months.

The Prime Minister will tell the Woodford Folk Festival, a favourite of Bob Hawke when he was alive, that “when Woodford takes place next year, the referendum on the voice to parliament will have been held”.

“Momentum is growing,” Mr Albanese will say, according to a draft of the speech seen by The Australian.

“Local government, community groups, churches, business, trade unions, and sporting codes have joined every state and territory government in pledging support for a constitutionally enshrined voice to parliament.”

The speech comes amid division within the Coalition over the voice, with a growing number of Liberal MPs calling for a free vote, and the Nationals still reeling from the defection of Andrew Gee to the crossbench in protest at the party’s opposition to the proposed change.

Mr Albanese will tell Woodford Folk Festival goers that he has drawn lessons from Hawke’s focus on reconciliation and consensus during his time as prime minister.

“Above all, Bob’s ambition embraced the rest of us, and that’s because he knew we were capable of better and he knew we could do it – together,” he will say.

Mr Albanese will argue that the referendum on the voice to parliament is a chance to achieve such unity again.

“This is an opportunity for all of us to be a part of enriching our nation and being even stronger in the future,” he will say.

“This can be an inclusive moment of national unity and reconciliation. I respect everyone’s right to make their own decision on the referendum, but I encourage Australians to consider the generous and gracious request from First Nations’ people.”

The Nationals last month declared the party’s formal opposition to the voice, citing a lack of detail and concern that the body would not achieve any tangible outcomes for Indigenous people.

The move prompted last week’s shock resignation by Mr Gee, who said the junior Coalition party didn’t need to oppose the voice.

MPs in the Liberal Party are divided on whether Peter Dutton should declare a position on the voice. Menzies MP Keith Wolahan said he was personally opposed but suggested Liberals should get a free vote on the issue.

“I believe in the elimination of all group distinctions in society, especially in the Constitution,” Mr Wolahan said. “I therefore oppose the voice on principle. I have no objection to every parliamentarian having a free vote on this important question which affects every Australian.”

NSW senator Hollie Hughes said while she believed the majority of the party room would be against a voice, she “didn’t have a problem” with a conscience vote to give people the greatest freedom to express their views.

A number of Liberals said they would not be comfortable with the party coming to a position on the voice without Labor giving more detail on the body.

Victorian Liberal senator David Van said he couldn’t “sign up” to support the voice without a greater understanding of what it would do, and that the party shouldn’t prematurely declare a position. “Until we can have that informed debate in the party room, I wouldn’t advocate for a party position,” Senator Van said.

NSW Liberal senator Andrew Bragg, who is leading the charge against a formal position being declared, has pointed to the fact that, historically, the Liberal Party does not enforce binding positions on its MPs.

Phillip Thompson, the Liberal MP for Herbert and father to two indigenous daughters, said he had been lobbying Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney for months to meet with him, and visit Townsville and Palm Island to inform the community on what the voice would do.

“I’m furious that I can’t get any information or a meeting with this minister to discuss (Labor’s) policy,” Mr Thompson said.

“I have, and my community has, questions and concerns that are not being answered by the minister. It is very hard to have a position on any policy when no detail is provided and all requests to meet fall on deaf ears.

“I spoke with my mother-in-law, a proud Aboriginal woman born on Palm Island, and I asked her if she supports the voice the Prime Minister is talking about. Her response is the same as many: ‘What is it? How will it help Aboriginal people?’”

Ms Burney said she would visit Townsville and Palm Island in 2023 and “listen to locals about the issues that matter to them and their community”.

“The voice is an issue that is above partisan politics,” Ms Burney said. “I will work with anyone who wants to improve the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

“Concrete actions are what is required to improve outcomes for First Nations people, and that’s exactly what the voice will help to deliver.”

While Mr Thompson said it was up to the party room whether a formal position on the voice should be taken, other Liberals indicated they would like the party to form a position next year.

WA Liberal senator Matt O’Sullivan said the party should arrive at a position, “but what should come first is detail on the government model”. “I don’t understand the logic of not providing that,” he said.

South Australian MP James Stevens said he supported the adoption of a position to oppose constitutional change, but that there was also “a need to accept there are members of our party room that don’t support that position”. “We need to respect them as has always been the case with those who have held differing views,” he said.

One of the leaders of the campaign against the voice, Indigenous leader Warren Mundine, declared this week the campaign would “bring out a whole range” of Aboriginal figures in the new year who were opposed to the proposal, including from regional and remote communities.

Mr Mundine said on Tuesday he and Indigenous NT Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, a CLP member who sits with the Nationals, would meet early next year with West Australian Nationals caucus, which announced last month it supported the voice.

 He said he and Senator Price would also address the WA Liberal Party, which had formally opposed the voice in a motion passed by state executive.