Albanese says Voice vote about people, not him
Anthony Albanese says if the referendum for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament is voted down by the Australian people, the loss won’t be about him.
Anthony Albanese says if the referendum for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament is voted down by the Australian people, the loss won’t be about him.
The Prime Minister’s declaration comes as Liberal veteran Warren Entsch said his colleagues would be able to vote and campaign on a Voice, according to their conscience, regardless of the position ultimately taken by the party.
Mr Entsch, a Queensland marginal seat holder, said he was looking for reasons to vote Yes, but had found none.
Days after the Yes campaign officially launched in Adelaide, which Mr Albanese did not attend because the organisers did not want politicians there, Mr Albanese questioned the consequences if there was a No vote in Australia. Asked how he would respond to a failed referendum and if he would take responsibility, Mr Albanese told the Seven Network’s Flashpoint WA program: “It’s not about me. It’s not about politicians. It’s about people. It’s about the Australian people and it’s about the decision that they make.”
Senior Liberal MPs told The Australian they did not expect the party to finalise a position on the government’s constitutional amendment Bill – which is due to be introduced to parliament next month – until May at the earliest.
That would mean a position would not be settled until after the NSW March election and April 1 Aston by-election. There are growing expectations the party will oppose the constitutional amendment or Liberal MPs will be granted a free vote, but that a Yes position is unlikely.
“In the Liberal Party we have a right to reserve our position and vote according to our conscience,” Mr Entsch said.
“We don’t have to have a dedicated conscience vote to be able to vote one way or another. We’ve proved that time and time again. If we can’t get answers to questions (on the detail of the Voice), I’ll have no option but to vote No. That would be sad to lose the opportunity to enshrine recognition in our Constitution. I want to see change in the communities,” he said.
The Liberal Party is preparing to decide how to vote on the government’s referendum machinery provisions Bill in March, but is waiting to learn if Labor will agree to its final demand to create and fund official campaign entities for both the Yes and No cases.
Mr Entsch said Mr Albanese was making a “mistake” by progressing constitutional recognition alongside a Voice, saying they should be separated so constitutional recognition could be prioritised. He agreed with a group of locals in his electorate of Leichhardt who believed the Voice would be rejected by the Australian people “because of the ambiguity of it and the lack of vision as to what it’s actually going to do”.
Mr Albanese said Australians could read the Calma-Langton report on a proposed model for the Voice or “just Google” the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
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