No rush for Indigenous voice vote, says Linda Burney

Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney insists the government is in no rush to finalise a timetable for the Indigenous voice referendum.

Linda Burney at the Garma Festival at the weekend. Picture: Getty Images

Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney will launch a blitz of consultation with First Nations groups and Coalition MPs to ­secure maximum support for the voice ahead of a referendum but insists the government is in no rush to finalise a timetable for the vote.

With the Coalition and the Greens yet to back the government’s voice proposal as outlined by Anthony Albanese at the Garma Festival at the weekend, Ms Burney urged Peter Dutton to get on the “right side of history” and back the yes case for the referendum.

“We will consult deeply and broadly with the Aboriginal community, that is the first and foremost,” Ms Burney said about the next steps in the government’s process for a referendum.

“We need to look very hard at bringing people together. We are certainly not looking at rushing things.”

Ms Burney said the government had no timeframe for releasing more detail on how the voice body would function or when the referendum would be held.

She said she was yet to consider a proposal put forward on Monday by opposition Indigenous Australians spokesman Julian Leeser for the full design of the voice to be released in draft legislation before the referendum.

Despite not committing to ­releasing a fully formed model of the voice before the referendum, the Prime Minister on Monday night said voters would know how the body worked ahead of voting.

“Of course they will know how it works, but the truth is it’s a pretty simple proposition,” Mr Albanese told Network 10. “The proposition is where matters affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people then those people, First Nations people, should be consulted on it.”

Mr Leeser signalled that the Coalition would need more detail on how the body would function to give bipartisan support for the yes case in the referendum.

“Who will serve on (the voice bodies)? How will they be chosen? What will their powers be? And how will they make lives in Indigenous communities better?” Mr Leeser told Sky News.

“I think it is important they also roll out the legal form of how the body should be because that is the best way that you can answer the reasonable questions Australians are asking on this.”

A proposed model for the voice overseen by Indigenous academics Marcia Langton and Tom Calma has 24 members – 12 male and 12 female — including at least five people from remote communities.

Ms Burney said she believed the Opposition Leader and ­Nationals leader David Littleproud had an open mind on the voice to parliament.

“We will engage respectfully with people that would like to talk to us about a way forward,” she said. “I think the Coalition might want to think about being on the right side of history.

“We want to build consensus across the parliament.”

In question time on Monday, Mr Albanese said a constitutionally enshrined voice was “not a matter of special treatment”.

“It is not a matter of preferential power, it is about consulting Aboriginal and Torres Strait ­Islander peoples on decisions that affect them,” he said.

“In the draft of the constitutional change that I spoke about on Saturday, it makes it very clear the primacy of the parliament is not affected.”

Echoing his comments on Sunday, Mr Albanese said using the voice to consult with First Nations people would lead to more effective government programs and policies that would improve their standard of living.

In a sign the government could face opposition on two fronts in the referendum, Greens First ­Nations spokeswoman Lidia Thorpe said some Indigenous communities might campaign against a voice.

Senator Thorpe argued the focus should instead be on a treaty between First Nations people and the federal government. “Some (Indigenous elders) see that constitutional inclusion is a sign of ceding sovereignty. And some see going into the Constitution as being part of a system that ultimately makes powers over Aboriginal people. So there are a number of concerns,” she told ABC radio.