Western Australia has become the first state Nationals branch to criticise its federal counterpart's decision to not support the Voice to Parliament referendum.
The federal Nationals are the first major party to publicly campaign against a constitutionally enshrined Indigenous Voice to Parliament ahead of a planned referendum in the next 18 months.
Leader of the WA Nationals, Mia Davies, said her team would support the Voice.
"I'm respectful of the decision their party room has made, it doesn't necessarily align to how the Nationals in Western Australia have approached this issue," she told ABC Radio Perth.
Ms Davies said she was not aware federal leader, David Littleproud, was going to make the announcement on Tuesday and said she would have appreciated a prior discussion.
"I agree with a lot of the things that he said in terms of the pragmatic and the practical things that we need to do to close the gap and empower Aboriginal Australians," she said.
"Where we part ways here in Western Australia is I don't think it's one or the other, I think we can do both.
"We can have a conversation about the Voice, and we can also talk about practical and on-ground investment right now to support Aboriginal communities and individuals."
Ms Davies said a large portion of the debate on the Voice to Parliament had come from a lack of detail from the federal government.
Difference of opinion
It is not the first time the WA and Federal Nationals have been at odds on matters of policy and leadership.
Ms Davies was one of the first to call for former leader Barnaby Joyce to resign in 2018, after revelations of his affair with former staffer Vikki Campion.
Three years later, when the federal Nationals party decided to switch from Michael McCormack back to Mr Joyce, Ms Davies labelled the move destabilising.
Ms Davies also criticised her federal counterpart's climate policies ahead of the 2022 election.
WA Liberal leader yet to decide
The leader of the WA Liberals, David Honey, said he was yet to take a firm position on the referendum, but did agree with Ms Davies that more detail was needed.
"I'll be honest, I haven't considered it in any detail," he said.
"It's critical that we have proper representation for Aboriginal people. Now, how you achieve that is the question of this whole referendum.
"I want to see the detail, I think like most people. Concepts are fine, in law it's the detail that counts."
Dr Honey's comments come despite the WA Liberals passing a motion at its state conference in June opposing the Voice to Parliament.
The successful motion involved the WA division of the party urging Peter Dutton to oppose the Voice on the grounds there were already Indigenous MPs, and so further representation was not needed.
At the time, former WA Liberal MP and minister for Indigenous Australians, Ken Wyatt, labelled the motion and those who passed it as "out of touch".
"I just find it very disappointing that a party that I have been heavily involved with, believe in, and see as having a set of values that match mine, makes such a decision," he told the ABC in June.
The federal Liberal Party is yet to declare a position on the Voice.
