Pro-Voice Liberal Premier Jeremy Rockliff ‘proud’, unapologetic

The nation’s most senior office-holding Liberal, pro-Voice Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff, has vowed to progress treaty and truth telling, while not ruling out a future state-based Voice.

Mr Rockliff on Sunday said he was “proud” to have been the nation’s most senior Liberal to “stand up” for the voice. Picture: Linda Higginson

The nation’s most senior office-holding Liberal, pro-Voice Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff, has vowed to progress treaty and truth telling, while not ruling out a future state-based Voice.

Mr Rockliff on Sunday said he was “proud” to have been the nation’s most senior Liberal to “stand up” for the Voice, despite 73pc of his own electorate of Braddon voting No.

“I stand up for what I believe in and I’ve always been about that and I won’t shy away from the tough decisions,” Mr Rockliff said. “And I won’t also go along with the crowd.

“I’ll make my own calls … I am disappointed in the result but Australians have had their say, Tasmanians have had their say. Good people can differ.

“I am the most senior Liberal in the country that stood up and supported and advocated for a Yes vote … I will always work towards supporting Indigenous Australians and bridging the gap for Aboriginal people.”

Tasmania, along with Victoria, had been seen by the Yes campaign as its likely strongest state and, along with SA, as key to a referendum victory.

Instead, the island voted overwhelming – 59.5pc to 40.5pc – against the Voice to parliament, while only two of its five seats recorded Yes votes. Mr Rockliff’s northwest seat of Braddon voted 72.6pc No to 27.4pc Yes.

Mr Rockliff, battling a destabilisation campaign by some conservative Liberals, dismissed suggestions his standing in the party or community had been damaged by him misreading the electorate.

The Premier has suffered a series of recent political blows, including the defection to the crossbench of two Liberal conservatives and the loss of his Attorney-General. He clings to minority government at the whim of independents.

He said the referendum had raised greater awareness of Indigenous disadvantage, which he now hoped to address via an ongoing state treaty and truth telling process.

While he had “no plans … at this stage” for a state-based Voice body, Mr Rockliff did not rule out the step, already adopted in South Australia.

Liberal Bass MP Bridget Archer with Premier Jeremy Rockliff. Picture: Alex Treacy

He had campaigned for the Yes vote alongside fellow Liberal moderate Bridget Archer, the federal MP for Bass, which voted No 61.7 to 38.2.

Ms Archer, who some conservative Liberals want dumped at preselection over her moderate views and willingness to cross the floor, said the referendum result was “heartbreaking”.

“As a vocal supporter and campaigner in the Yes campaign, I am naturally disappointed but of course respect the decision of voters in Bass,” Ms Archer said.

“My heartbreak is reserved for the many Indigenous members of our community who had fought for this recognition in the hope of a pathway to a better future.

“The cause of reconciliation has been set back, badly, but it doesn’t end here. I am committed to continuing to walk with our First Nations people and our entire community towards a united country …”

Yes campaigners had to battle opposition to the Voice by several peak Indigenous groups, including the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre and Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania.

ALCT chair Michael Mansell told The Australian the referendum results were unsurprising, given such Indigenous opposition. “The public were aware there was no groundswell of Aboriginal support for the Voice and that if they don’t see that groundswell they tend to go away from it,” he said.

Only in Hobart-based Clark (58pc to 42pc) and southern Franklin (50.5pc to 49.5pc) were Yes votes recorded. In sprawling Lyons, 68pc voted No.