Liberal MP Julian Leeser has resigned as shadow attorney general and shadow minister for Indigenous Australians, less than a week after the Liberals confirmed they will oppose an Indigenous voice in the constitution.
Leeser, who is a supporter of an Indigenous voice, announced in a statement on Facebook on Tuesday morning he had resigned so as to campaign for a yes vote in the referendum.
Leeser’s move was welcomed by fellow Liberals who support the voice, including MP Bridget Archer and senator Andrew Bragg, but is considered unlikely to trigger further resignations from shadow cabinet despite several moderates expressing concern about the party’s position in that forum.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, accepted the resignation, telling reporters in Brisbane it reflected that “his position is at odds with the overwhelming majority of the Liberal party members in our party room”.
Leeser told reporters in Sydney he hadn’t “been able to persuade” his colleagues to support a voice in the constitution.
“I resign without rancour or bitterness and remain a loyal Liberal, fully committed to the leadership of Peter Dutton,” he said.
Earlier, Leeser wrote that his “resignation as a frontbencher is not about personality, it’s about keeping faith with an issue that I have been working on for almost a decade”.
“I’ve also tried to keep faith with my Liberal values. My desire to conserve our institutions like the Australian constitution with my desire to seek better outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.”
Leeser announced he will campaign for a model he put forward at the National Press Club last week – to remove the Indigenous voice’s power to advise parliament and the executive from the government’s proposed constitutional amendment.
“The Press Club model for the voice is constitutionally sound, gives Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians a place in our founding document and recognises the supremacy of parliament in our constitutional system,” he said.
“It improves the model put forward by the government and its referendum working group. This will also improve its chances for success at the ballot box.”
In the post, Leeser acknowledged “the support and good grace of Peter Dutton throughout the process and the faith he has shown in me”.
“However, on the voice referendum we find ourselves in different places. People of goodwill can disagree.”
At the press conference, Leeser added that Dutton came to the debate with an “open mind and a good heart” but claimed he had “not been able to engage” with the government because it had refused to answer 15 questions the opposition leader had posed.
Leeser urged Labor to “seriously engage with Coalition voters”, warning it “hasn’t done so to date and this failure could ultimately put the referendum at risk”.
Leeser called for a “civil” referendum debate, warning supporters of the voice not to call “those who disagree with you racist” and those opposed not to imply “that those who disagree with you want special privileges”.
“The voice is not about special privileges … It is about recognising that Indigenous Australians are our brothers and sisters and we have left them behind in our shared national project.”
Last Wednesday Dutton and the deputy Liberal leader, Sussan Ley, announced that the Liberals will oppose putting the Indigenous voice in the constitution after a party room meeting endorsed that position.
On Friday Guardian Australia revealed that Leeser had proposed to shadow cabinet to preserve the option of a free vote at least until after the parliamentary inquiry, but this was rejected in favour of opposing the voice in the constitution.
What has happened already?
The Albanese government has put forward the referendum question: "A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. Do you approve this proposed alteration?"
The PM also suggested three sentences be added to the constitution:
- There shall be a body, to be called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.
- The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice may make representations to the Parliament and the Executive Government of the Commonwealth on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples;
- The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws with respect to matters relating to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, including its composition, functions, powers and procedures.
How would it work?
The voice would be able to make recommendations to the Australian parliament and government on matters relating to the social, spiritual and economic wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The voice would be able to table formal advice in parliament and a parliamentary committee would consider that advice. But all elements would be non-justiciable, meaning that there could not be a court challenge and no law could be invalidated based on this consultation.
How would it be structured?
The Indigenous voice co-design report recommended the national voice have 24 members, encompassing two from each state, the Northern Territory, ACT and Torres Strait. A further five members would represent remote areas and an additional member would represent Torres Strait Islanders living on the mainland.
Members would serve four-year terms, with half the membership determined every two years.
Leeser’s position was supported by at least three leading moderates – Simon Birmingham, Marise Payne and Paul Fletcher – who rejected Dutton’s proposal to oppose the voice in the constitution.
On Tuesday Leeser played down the prospect any colleagues could join him in quitting, explaining his position was “unique” given his decade of advocacy, including establishing an organisation called Uphold and Recognise to help conservatives support the Voice.
Dutton also deflected a question about other frontbenchers with concerns by noting Leeser’s “unique perspective”.
“How people vote on a ballot in a secret ballot is entirely up to them,” he said, in response to a question about whether all frontbenchers are expected to vote no.
In 2018 Leeser served alongside Labor’s Patrick Dodson as the chair of a parliamentary committee that recommended constitutional recognition through a voice to parliament.
Leeser, a longtime advocate of Indigenous recognition and one of its strongest backers inside the Liberal party room, has criticised Labor for a lack of detail in its voice proposal, warning in January the government is “in danger of losing [him]”.
Dutton said he would consider whom to replace Leeser with in the next few days.
