Sussan Ley urges Anthony Albanese against ‘rushing to failure’ on voice amid ‘fear and division’

The Prime Minister has also defended enshrining the voice in the Constitution, saying it’s what Indigenous Australians want.

The principle of the voice will be in the Constitution, Anthony Albanese says, and its detail can be refined over time via legislation. Picture: NCA NewsWire

Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley has urged Anthony Albanese not to “rush to failure” on an Indigenous voice to parliament and executive government, appealing to the Prime Minister to work with the Coalition to legislate the advisory body and then pursue constitutional recognition.

As the House of Representatives prepares to vote on the government’s Constitution Alteration Bill, Ms Ley – who will vote no at the referendum – used her contribution to the debate to condemn Mr Albanese’s “self-proclaimed moral arbiter” approach and claimed some voters may feel “bullied into a decision”.

“What is not okay is to feel a moral compulsion, a coercive guilt to vote a certain way because of the tenor of this debate. It’s not okay for the Prime Minister to bully you into a decision,” Ms Ley said. “It is time for the Prime Minister to stop the insults … the name calling … the moral blackmail. That’s what will divide our country, that’s what will tear at the fabric of our beautiful nation.

“I appeal to the Prime Minister – if you look into your heart and the heart of the nation you lead, and you see division, misunderstanding and, yes, even fear, do not rush to failure … I urge the Prime Minister to work constructively with the opposition to legislate what we can agree on and then go to the Australian people with a referendum question that enjoys bipartisan support – constitutional recognition backed by legislated voices.”

With polling showing a fall in support for the voice and the government attempting to build momentum for the Yes case, Mr Albanese declared the advisory body could be refined and changed by parliament over time.

Facing accusations he’s attempting to win the referendum “on the vibe”, the Prime Minister said former Coalition governments could have legislated the voice but didn’t and if he’d rejected it being enshrined in the Constitution he wouldn’t have been listening to Indigenous people.

“The whole point of the voice is listening to Indigenous people. And if at the first step you say, ‘we’re not going to listen to what you’ve said, we’re going to ignore that, and we’re going to do our own thing’ … The former government could have legislated at any time. They didn’t do so,” Mr Albanese told ABC radio.

The Uluru Statement from the Heart, released in May 2017, calls for the establishment of a First Nations voice enshrined in the Constitution. The Coalition lost government five years later.

Mr Albanese said the voice could be reformed through legislation as necessary, with senior members of the Coalition such as Ms Ley and opposition Indigenous Australians spokeswoman Jacinta Nampijinpa Price demanding legislated regional and rural bodies first.

“It will be legislated, the detail, because it will need to be refined, changed over a period of time,” Mr Albanese told 5AA radio.

Asked if people who don’t vote yes were racist, after equating opponents to “doomsayers and Chicken Littles”, Mr Albanese said: “No, people will have a range of views and they’re entitled to it.

“Peter Dutton is doing his best to turn up the heat on the debate.

“What I referred to … was very clear. I said that, remember how the sky was going to fall in after the Apology? Please enjoy the sky as you head back out today. … I don’t know anyone who today is arguing that the Apology was a bad thing. But … it was a campaign which was resisted by then-prime minister Howard and it never occurred, it took the change of government for that to occur. Once it occurred, the world moved on.”