The former foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop has called for Australians to support the Indigenous voice referendum, warning that existing policies are not working to close the gap.
Bishop, who was deputy leader of the Liberal party for 11 years, said many Indigenous people she respected greatly “have put a lot of thought into this and they believe that it is a step in the right direction”.
In an address to the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday, Bishop said: “So personally, my message to anyone who wants to listen to what I have to say is that I believe that it is a step in the right direction.
“I sat through too many of those Closing the Gap speeches in parliament to sense that what we were doing was working to close the disparity and inequality between Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations.
“In some instances, the key measures were getting worse, not better, so it’s not a question of money, it’s not a question of politicians coming up with policies, it’s a question of giving Indigenous people the franchise to make decisions to implement policies that will work.
“We’ve got to give it a chance.”
Bishop is chancellor of the Australian National University, whose council announced in April that it “unreservedly supports enshrining an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice in the constitution”.
But until now, Bishop has not publicly outlined her personal position. The Liberal party under Peter Dutton’s leadership has resolved to oppose enshrining a voice in the constitution and is actively campaigning for a no vote.
Bishop declined to say whether she was disappointed that the party was actively campaigning to defeat the proposal, with Dutton calling it divisive, risky, Orwellian and a plan to “re-racialise” Australia.
“I don’t express emotions these days about what goes on in politics,” she said. “I’m not excited, I’m not disappointed. I’m pragmatic about the choices that political parties take.”
Bishop acknowledged that the more complex and less bipartisan a referendum proposal was, the less likely it was to succeed.
She said no one was claiming that the voice would end inequality, but Australia should embrace the idea proposed by Indigenous people in the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
Asked whether she would publicly campaign for a yes vote, Bishop said: “I have just said to the National Press Club my position. That’s about as public as I get these days.”
Bishop’s intervention follows predictions by the former Liberal prime minister John Howard that the referendum would fail.
Howard, who refused to apologise to the Stolen Generations and denied genocide had been practised against Indigenous people, told the Australian newspaper: “I think it will go down significantly. That’s my sense.”
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, responded to Howard by declaring the referendum was about “making a tangible difference to the lives of First Nations people”.
“It’s also a big opportunity for our country to move forward together in a spirit of unity and respect,” Chalmers told Sky News.
“I’m under no illusions about how difficult constitutional change is in this country and perhaps particularly in my home state of Queensland, so we’ve got to put in the work and we will.”
Chalmers called for “robust, rational debate amongst people of goodwill” but said he was “deeply, deeply troubled by the tone of the no campaign”.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, reiterated his intention to hold the vote between October and December, despite calls to delay it to build broader consensus.
He told reporters in Wellington: “When I talk with people in the Pacific, including here in New Zealand, people are watching what Australia will determine with the referendum in the last quarter of this year.”
Bishop backed the yes case during the question session, but her speech largely focused on global “megatrends”, including the shift in relative power between the US and China.
Bishop said she maintained a “collegiate” relationship with the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, but declined to say whether she had been sounded out to serve as Australia’s next ambassador to France.
“That would be a matter between me and whomever was doing the asking,” Bishop said.
Bishop said she was “more than delighted” with her existing role as ANU chancellor.
She said the Chinese government’s refusal to rule out the use of force in future to ensure “reunification” with self-governed Taiwan placed Australia in “an exquisite dilemma”.
Bishop said Australia had a role to play, alongside other like-minded nations, “as a moderator, as a facilitator of continued discussions”.
“We, like-minded nations, can help ensure that Taiwan does not become part of a ladder of escalation, with military conflict over Taiwan as the last step on that ladder,” she said.
“Whenever there is an escalation of tensions between the US and China, it’s in all of our interests to ensure there is a corresponding de-escalation.”
Bishop, who played a prominent role in the Coalition’s campaign to dismantle the Gillard government’s carbon pricing scheme, also called for efforts to reach a bipartisan climate policy in Australia.
