Referendum working group to remain a quasi-voice
The First Nations Referendum Working Group will continue to act as a quasi-voice to the Albanese government while politicians consider the Indigenous voice to parliament.
The First Nations Referendum Working Group will continue to act as a quasi-voice to the Albanese government while politicians consider the constitutional amendment to enshrine an Indigenous voice to parliament.
Government sources said the group, comprised of 21 Indigenous leaders, was a valuable resource and it wouldn’t be disbanded when it hands down its final advice on Thursday on the proposed question and constitutional amendment to be put to the Australian people.
The group will likely meet again next month, and government sources said it could still have reason to meet until the Constitution alteration bill is voted on by the Senate in June.
For example, the Indigenous leaders could be called upon to advise Labor on an amendment put by independent ACT senator David Pocock and supported by the Greens.
The group was established to advise government on the timing, constitutional amendment and question and information on the voice necessary for a successful referendum.
A rift has emerged between Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus and some members of the referendum working group after they accused him of “overreach” for a proposal put last week, as revealed in The Australian, which they believed watered down the voice’s power to advise the executive government.
The Australian has confirmed Mr Dreyfus, who was accompanied by Solicitor-General Stephen Donaghue KC at last week’s meeting, suggested making an addition to the third clause of the draft constitutional amendment.
The third clause reads: “The parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws with respect to the composition, functions, powers and procedures of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice.”
The words “and the legal effect of its representations” would be inserted at the end of the clause, in a bid to clarify it would be up to parliament to decide what obligations the executive government has to consider and respond to the voice’s representations.
The referendum working group is divided on the proposal, with some concerned it as an attempt to win over the Liberal Party that will ultimately fail.
University of Sydney constitutional law expert Anne Twomey, who sits on the constitutional expert group that provides the referendum working group with legal advice, said the proposed addition simply confirmed parliament would decide whether it should be mandatory for the government to consider the voice’s representations.
Opposition legal affairs spokesman Julian Leeser, who is calling on Mr Dreyfus to release legal advice he received from Dr Donaghue, said this was the government’s second change to the proposed constitutional amendment, and lashed the “lack of good process”.
“This is the Constitution we are talking about and yet we keep witnessing back-of-the-envelope changes,” Mr Leeser said.
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