Tehan says PM’s lack of detail forcing Coalition to oppose voice
Dan Tehan says Anthony Albanese is leaving the opposition with no option but to formally oppose the creation of an Indigenous voice because of a refusal to explain how the body would work.
Liberal MP Dan Tehan says Anthony Albanese is leaving the opposition with no option but to formally oppose the creation of an Indigenous voice to parliament at the upcoming referendum because of a refusal to explain how the body would work.
Mr Tehan has joined opposition Indigenous Australians spokesman Julian Leeser in warning that his support for a voice to parliament is being put at risk. “Anthony Albanese has an opportunity to bring the nation with him and deliver a voice, but that requires leadership and detail,” he said.
“Instead, he is deliberately dividing the nation and doing nothing to allay genuine fears in the community about the voice.
“People are worried about judicial activism and another layer of bureaucracy slowing down good work. To succeed, the government needs to seek true bipartisanship, answer the public’s questions fully and provide an exposure draft of the legislation before a vote, otherwise Indigenous recognition in our Constitution will be contested.”
Mr Tehan said when the Coalition government ran the same-sex marriage plebiscite, the exposure draft of the enabling legislation was provided months before the national vote.
“Anthony Albanese is refusing to be transparent with the Australian people and that means the voice will be contested,” he said. “(He) is saying ‘Trust me’ but how can the opposition in good faith do that if he won’t provide the detail required by the Australian people?”
His warning comes after Aboriginal leaders urged the Prime Minister and Peter Dutton to forge a political consensus on what an Indigenous voice to parliament could look like.
Empowered Communities, an apolitical alliance of Indigenous leaders established to make joint decisions with government about their communities, sent a letter to both leaders asking them to establish a “proper bipartisan approach to develop the detail of the voice model”.
The letter makes clear the voice referendum should be about the principle of recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Constitution through an Indigenous advisory body, but the group also asked for more work to be done to forge a consensus ahead of the vote.
On Sky News on Sunday, the Opposition Leader said a decision on what position the Liberals would take on the voice would be determined by the partyroom.
“If the Prime Minister had just been upfront and straight and honest with the Australian public, and said, ‘If you vote for the voice, this is what we will legislate’, well, we would have the detail. But he’s not done that,” Mr Dutton said.
“I want an outcome that’s going to bring an end to the violence, the sexual assaults on children taking place in Alice Springs at the moment. I want reconciliation to improve in our country.
“I don’t want to see the escalation in domestic violence that we’ve seen and I want a model that is going to help those kids enjoy the life that I would expect my kids to enjoy in a capital city.”
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the vote was “Australia’s big chance to move forward together in a spirit of unity and respect, and give First Nations people a say in the issues that affect their communities”.
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