Dutton ‘open’ to voice dialogue but pushing for changes

Peter Dutton is ‘open to discussion’ with Anthony Albanese on the form of the Indigenous voice to parliament and government, believing the referendum will fail unless there are changes.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton at a Referendum Working Group meeting at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Martin Ollman

Peter Dutton is “open to discussion” with Anthony Albanese on the form of the Indigenous voice to parliament and government and believes the referendum will fail unless the Prime Minister agrees to changes.

As the Liberals move to finalise a position on the voice legislation and referendum, the Opposition Leader has told the referendum working group he believes the campaign for the voice is on track to fail. Mr Dutton is leaving open the option to support the referendum if Mr Albanese agrees to changes to the referendum, expected to go to a national vote after September this year.

“We are open to a discussion with the government, but the Prime Minister refusing to negotiate or give details makes it very hard to see how his voice could succeed,” Mr Dutton told The Weekend Australian.

“I want to see practical outcomes and an improvement in safety for Indigenous people, not another bureaucracy.”

Liberal options for a compromise with Mr Albanese includes changing the wording of the referendum question to make the voice less extensive and more precise to limiting the breadth of influence and restricting consultation to specific Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander laws.

The government’s referendum working group has split on whether the voice rights to advise and consult should be restricted to parliament only and exclude executive government. On Friday in Melbourne, Mr Dutton said he had been frank with the referendum working group in his assessment of the possible success of the referendum.

“Our belief is that the way in which the Prime Minister has just not been across the detail when it comes to the voice, or frankly, many other matters,” he said.

“I think the voice is not going to get up and I don’t think it’s going to be successful, and that’s because the Prime Minister’s had this half-hearted effort in relation to just not explaining the detail, not being across the detail. I think it’s tough for a lot of Australians when they’re being asked to make a change to the Constitution – our nation’s founding document – and yet they don’t have the detail from our Prime Minister.”

The Liberal alternatives on the legislation and referendum also include deferring the referendum to allow a full debate before the referendum is put to the people and creating a legislated Indigenous voice to parliament without constitutional change.

Mr Albanese has been pressing Mr Dutton and the Liberals to decide whether to support the voice and the referendum as the government prepares to introduce the legislation next month for the national vote. The Liberals’ Coalition partners, the Nationals, have already agreed to oppose the referendum and the creation of a voice to parliament and government. Newspoll surveys have shown there is overwhelming opposition to a voice to parliament among Coalition voters.

On Friday, Mr Albanese said the wording of the referendum would be considered in the next sitting of parliament in March.

Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. Picture: NCA NewsWire/John Gass

“It has to go through legislation,” he said. “So it will be up to the parliament what the wording is. There will then be a committee of the parliament who will examine that on a bipartisan basis. And then the legislation will be debated in the May-June sessions of parliament.” Last week, Mr Albanese appealed to the Liberals to participate in, not just “observe”, the referendum process and warned a failed referendum would damage Australia’s international reputation and regional trade.

Mr Dutton said Australians were not “hard-hearted” when they asked for details about how the voice would work or what practical benefits there would be.

“We want the detail because we want a model that addresses the practical and immediate need of Indigenous kids in Alice Springs and beyond,” he said. “I want a better life for Indigenous Australians, not another layer of bureaucracy.

“The Prime Minister was elected to fix problems and not constantly complain about them. We have demonstrated we will back the government where they get it right, but we will side with Australians when Mr Albanese gets it wrong.” Last week, Mr Albanese backflipped on his long-held opposition to neutral information pamphlets for the Yes and No cases to be sent to all households before the referendum after a Liberal campaign for more information. But he has offered few details on how the voice would work, though he said it would affect “all levels of government”.

He has consistently said there should not be any further delay to the implementation of a voice.