The Liberal party has “turned its back” on Indigenous people and ignored the majority of its constituents by deciding to oppose the voice to parliament, key yes campaigners say.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, pledged Wednesday to actively campaign against the voice, with the Liberals deciding to advocate for symbolic constitutional recognition of Indigenous people. At a Liberal caucus meeting on Wednesday, frontbenchers were directed to oppose the proposal for the voice, although backbenchers are free to campaign as they wish.
“We have been clear we don’t support his [Anthony Albanese’s] Canberra voice,” Dutton said. “It is divisive and won’t deliver the outcomes to people on the ground.”
The decision has prompted anger and disappointment from Indigenous campaigners, who say symbolic constitutional recognition is a long-rejected proposal dismissed in the lead-up to the Uluru statement from the heart, which called for recognition through a voice to parliament.
“After 12 years, seven processes and 10 reports, the Liberal party have made a decision to campaign for a no vote,” said Pat Anderson, one of the architects of the Uluru statement.
“This ignores the majority of First Nations peoples at the grassroots across the country, ignores the months of work done by three referendum working groups to ensure the wording is sound, and ignores the majority view of their own constituents.”
The Liberal MP Bridget Archer said she would actively campaign for a yes vote, telling Triple J’s Hack she did not want to be attached “in any way” to a no vote.
Liberal senator Andrew Bragg, another voice supporter, cast doubt on his party’s reasons for opposing it and said he still had an open mind.
Instead of a constitutionally enshrined voice, Dutton proposed symbolic constitutional recognition of Indigenous people, and a legislated model that would focus on local and regional voices rather than a national voice.
“I have spent literally months, like many Australians, trying to understand what it is the prime minister is proposing,” Dutton said.
“We cannot get the basic detail out of them. We think it is deliberate.”
Anderson, co-chair of the Uluru statement from the heart, said current government approaches were “failing our people”, adding that a legislated body would not be as powerful as a constitutionally-enshrined one.
“[The Liberals’] decision is a vote for business as usual. It is a vote for the domination of Canberra politicians and Canberra bureaucrats in the lives of grassroots communities,” she said.
“Legislative bodies have come and gone. Only constitutional enshrinement will guarantee First Nations peoples will have an enduring say and ultimately improve First Nations lives.”
Dutton ‘tying himself in knots’, Burney says
The Indigenous Australians minister, Linda Burney, stressed that the Uluru statement had been created “with the input of over a thousand First Nations people across the country”. She believed the referendum would pass, and noted that the leaders of every state and territory had backed the voice.
“Mr Dutton is tying himself in knots. Apparently, he’s for a voice, but against it, and his backbenchers won’t be bound by this position. That’s about as clear as mud,” she said.
“The voice will make sure that voices in remote and regional communities are heard. It is simply misleading for Mr Dutton to suggest anything otherwise.”
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, called it a “cheap shot” for Dutton to refer to the body as the “Canberra voice” and rubbished suggestions of splitting the referendum question in two – one on recognition and one on the voice.
Thomas Mayo, a member of the government’s referendum working group, said he was disappointed but not surprised by Dutton’s decision. He accused the opposition of “fear-mongering and dishonesty”.
“It’s misleading to say that you support constitutional recognition, while ignoring those that are to be to be recognised, and the way that they seek to be recognised,” he said.
“These are empty words coming from the opposition leader. His government absolutely failed Indigenous people throughout the last 10 years.”
Fellow working group member, Marcus Stewart, said the Liberals’ decision amounted to “silencing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people”.
“All I’ve heard from Peter Dutton is disingenuous delusions that deliberately and disproportionately affect Aboriginal people,” he said.
Dean Parkin, director of the Yes Campaign Alliance, said the Liberal party had “turned its back” on Indigenous people.
“Constitutional recognition through a voice to parliament is an invitation from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to the nation. It has come after decades of discussion and consultation,” he said.
“While today’s decision was made by a number of politicians in Canberra, the referendum is a decision for the Australian people. Indigenous people have put their faith in the people of Australia, because they will get it right.”
