Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has accused politicians and sections of the media of running a “scare campaign” over the Voice to Parliament, as the Coalition continues to demand further details on the constitutional amendment.
Speaking in Parliament House this morning, Mr Albanese said Voice opponents were as king about “every nuance” of how the body would work in an attempt to undermine the referendum.
“You can have word games in this place, or in the chamber there, but it’s just word games. People can see that,” he said.
Mr Albanese also said concerns the Voice could spark a wave of litigation in the High Court were overblown, noting legal fears had been pushed by opponents of landmark Indigenous affairs developments for decades.
“Wik, Mabo, the Apology to Stolen Generations – I sat in that parliament throughout the entire Howard Government years being told that if we had an apology, it would divide the nation,” he said.
“Does anyone think that the Apology divided the nation now?”
The draft constitutional amendment, unveiled by the government last week, would allow the Voice to make representations to both the parliament and the executive government on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Senior Liberal frontbenchers have spent the week quizzing the government on whether the Voice would need to be consulted in a myriad of policy areas – ranging from the Reserve Bank and interest rates, to defence and foreign affairs policy.
They’ve also demanded the government release legal advice from the solicitor-general on the amendment.
Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley denied her party was scaremongering or contributing to misinformation on the Voice.
“We are engaging in respectful debate, and respectfully asking questions, and respectfully seeking details,” she said.
“The personal offence the Prime Minister seems to take whenever he’s asked a question, and the indignation with which he responds, is quite frankly ridiculous.”
The Liberal Party has yet to adopt a position on the upcoming referendum, an issue which has proved divisive within the party room.
Unionist and Uluru Statement advocate Thomas Mayo, who sat on the government’s Referendum Working Group, told Media he was frustrated by continued demands for details.
“I think there is a pattern here of people in the Liberal Party and others that are just trying to confuse Australians with questions that just make absolutely no sense at all,” he said.
Mr Mayo emphasised the Voice had no power to force parliament or the government to act on its advice.
“The fearmongering about the High Court is another tactic to try and put people off … we work on the rule of law in this country, anybody can take anything to court,” he said.
The constitution alteration bill is due to be introduced to the House of Representatives tomorrow, with a final vote in the lower house anticipated in June.
