Victorian Bar lawyers back the voice following membership poll

The Victorian Bar Association has backed the voice to parliament after a membership poll revealed just over 50pc of barristers supported the Bar taking a public stance.

The Victorian Bar Association has stated its support for the Indigenous voice to parliament.

The Victorian Bar Association has thrown its support behind the Indigenous voice, claiming it is “sound” and “appropriate”, after a membership poll revealed just over 50 per cent of barristers supported the Bar taking a public stance.

The state Bar Council elected to poll the entire association last month following a fractious debate broke out among members over whether it should issue a statement supporting the Indigenous voice, or whether it should stay silent.

Results from the poll showed that of the 2229 Bar members who were eligible to vote, 1767 did.

Of those 1767 members, 1008 (57 per cent) voted in favour of the Bar supporting the Indigenous voice and 714 (40 per cent) voted for a separate motion that the Bar not publicly support either the “yes” case of the “no” case for the voice.

Forty-five members abstained from voting.

As a result, Victorian Bar President Sam Hay said the association would therefore support the Indigenous voice, and believed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s referendum proposal to be “sound, appropriate and compatible with Australia’s system of representative and responsible government”.

“Following a poll of Victorian Bar members about the Bar’s position (if any) on the proposed Voice to parliament, it has been determined that: The Victorian Bar supports constitutional recognition of Australia’s First People. The Victorian Bar considers that the amendment proposed by the Bill for an Act to alter the Constitution is sound, appropriate, and compatible with Australia’s system of representative and responsible government which would be enhanced by the addition of the Voice,” he wrote in an email to members on Friday.

He thanked “members who participated in what was a very important debate”.

Victorian Bar president Sam Hay KC.

The poll asked members to respond to the following question:

Do you:

i) support a motion that The Victorian Bar Incorporated does not publicly support either the “yes” case or the “no” case in any referendum to alter the Australian Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice;

ii) support a motion that The Victorian Bar Incorporated supports Constitutional recognition of Australia’s First People. The Victorian Bar Incorporated considers that the amendment proposed by the Bill for an Act to alter the Constitution is sound, appropriate, and compatible with Australia’s system of representative and responsible Government which would be enhanced by the addition of the Voice; or

iii) choose to abstain from submitting a vote in respect of the above motions.

Barrister Lana Collaris, who organised the motion for the Bar to abstain from making public comment on the voice, said the vote demonstrated it was inappropriate for large organisations to comment on political issues on behalf of its members.

“I am very proud that we stood up to certain Bar councillors who sought to impose their own personal political views upon the rest of the membership without qualification,” she said.

Lana Collaris.

“While the Bar has now issued an official statement in support of the voice, the poll results show that only 45 per cent of eligible members actually support that statement.

“What that demonstrates is that the Bar, like any other non-political organisation, cannot make unqualified political statements on behalf of all members.

“To do so not only misrepresents to the public that those members have a unified and collective view; it operates as a form of suppression of speech upon those who think differently.”

The Australian has contacted Peter Hanks KC, who put forward the Yes motion, for comment.