A senior barrister advising the Albanese government on the Indigenous voice to parliament referendum has blasted the constitutional lawyer Greg Craven for claiming members of the referendum working group were willing to “blow it up” if they couldn’t control the outcome.
Working group member Tony McAvoy SC said Prof Craven had stepped “way outside his remit” by incorrectly labelling the views of some in the group as “misplaced intransigence” and “egotism”.
“The fact that he has chosen to discuss the internal workings of the referendum working group in a way that’s incorrect discloses a failure on his part to appreciate his role, and tends to paint him as a political fanatic who intends on having his own way, when he understands fully that his remit is that of a constitutional law expert,” McAvoy said.
Craven, a member of the government’s constitutional expert group, and a director of Uphold and Recognise, wrote in the Australian newspaper on Monday that an “all or nothing” faction of the yes campaign would rather see the referendum fail than not reflect their preferences.
“Admittedly, some are honourable protagonists,” Craven wrote.
“Others are more complex. They would rather the referendum flounder than not reflect their own wide raft of policy or even their preferred wording. This position ranges from misplaced intransigence to egotism.
“Then there are those who would not just watch the referendum fail, but actively blow it up if they could not absolutely control the outcome. They would walk away, blaming the government for the debacle.”
McAvoy, Australia’s first Indigenous senior counsel and the former NT treaty commissioner, said Craven’s labelling of divisions within the working group were “both inappropriate and incorrect”.
“Professor Craven was invited to that meeting as part of his role on the constitutional expert group, which is providing advice to the working group on matters of constitutional law,” McAvoy said.
“Professor Craven, in commenting in the way that he has in the media, has strayed way outside of his remit. His task is not to give political advice to senior First Nations experts in the political field about his views on how the referendum question or the referendum amendment should be put.
“His view should be limited to his legal advice,” McAvoy said.
“The process of bringing a referendum to the population in an orderly fashion requires people to concentrate on doing their job well, and whilst Professor Craven’s advice, the advice to the executive, is able to be lawfully included in the amendment to the referendum, has been received and being considered, that’s as far as his role goes.”
Guardian Australia has sought to contact Prof Craven for comment through the Australian Catholic University.
