‘Come to us’: Indigenous leaders’ message to Dutton
Andrew Brown |
Indigenous groups have called for Opposition Leader Peter Dutton to visit them on their country as they push for politicians to come together on a voice to parliament.
The Indigenous Empowered Communities delegation, a group of 10 Indigenous people from across the country, say they want representatives from all parties to back the constitutional change.
The group’s representative from Cape York, Fiona Jose, said Mr Dutton had a standing invitation to visit to hear the case for the voice.
“We remain hopeful that Mr Dutton will hear us. There appears to be a willingness to consider taking a bipartisan approach on constitutional recognition of our people, I hope he is genuine,” she said.
“The 2023 referendum is of utmost importance to us, our lives and futures, as it is to the future of the Australian nation.”
The group’s chair, Ian Trust, said they had met with multiple MPs in Canberra during a visit to Canberra in the past week.
“We came to Canberra seeking a multi-partisan approach but have been unable to secure time with Mr Dutton, so we urge him now to come to us,” he said.
As Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made an impassioned plea for support from the coalition for the voice, deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley said the structure of how the voice would operate needed to be finalised.
“We support constitutional recognition of our first Australians, we understand how important that is, but the prime minister has tied that to a concept called the voice but he can’t explain it,” she said.
“So until he provides the details, I believe it’s actually the Labor Party that is putting reconciliation at risk.”
A referendum on enshrining the Indigenous voice to parliament in the constitution is due to be held in the second half of this year, while legislation to enable the vote is expected to be introduced to parliament in March.
The prime minister said a committee would be set up at that point to examine further detail on the voice.
A report on how referendum information will be delivered to voters will be released on Monday.
John Storey, a research fellow at conservative think tank the Institute of Public Affairs, said critical information on the voice needed to be made public.
“The secrecy around the referendum proposal must end and the consequences of such a change be fully explained,” Mr Storey said.
“Voting on a permanent change to our constitution is a critical and pressing matter. Australians must be in possession of … information, such as how the voice will operate in practice.”
AAP
