Anthony Albanese has asserted there is more than enough detail on the Indigenous voice to parliament for the public to make up their mind on the proposal.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Following the release of the question Australians will vote on at the referendum later this year, the prime minister hit back at opposition claims key advice on the voice was being withheld.
He challenged Opposition Leader Peter Dutton to put forward a stance on the voice to parliament, warning the request for detail was a well-worn tactic.
"We know from the republic playbook that occurred last century that it is nothing more than a tactic, and it lacks genuineness to just continue to say, 'We don't have the detail'," Mr Albanese told reporters in Melbourne on Friday.
"No matter how detail is put out, Peter Dutton will say,'What about more detail'. That's the game that's being played here, and he should make a decision of where he stands on the issue."
The prime minister said he had met with the opposition leader seven times on the voice, and concerns were not aired by Mr Dutton during those meetings.
Mr Dutton has urged the government to release legal advice from the solicitor-general on the implications of the voice.
A key concern has been that decisions might be delayed or taken to court because representations by the voice must be considered by government decision-makers before they can validly make a decision.
But Mr Albanese was confident the wording of the constitutional changes was water tight.
"This hasn't arisen in a vacuum. There's been all of this work done by the advisory group to the referendum working group. It's very clear that this is a straightforward proposition," he said.
"We will give the Australian people the opportunity to enlarge our country later this year. We can be enlarged or we can shrink, shrink into playing old politics. And that's what people need to consider who are in positions of political leadership."
A new section would be placed in the constitution, recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as the "First Peoples of Australia".
The proposed question being put to voters is: "A Proposed Law: to alter the constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice. Do you approve this proposed alteration?"
Laws setting out the referendum will be introduced to parliament next week, with the vote to take place between October and December.
Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley said the announcement of the referendum question was an "emotional day" but more detail on the proposal was needed.
"The prime minister said this would be a modest change, but then later he said it would change the country, so we'll keep asking for that detail and ask him questions on behalf of all Australians," she told Seven's Sunrise program.
"We'll do it in a respectful way because it is an incredibly important issue - you don't get a blank cheque to change the constitution."
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has warned of significant consequences for the future of reconciliation should the referendum fail.
"It would be a very long time before we returned to any question of recognition. I think it would be a tremendous setback for relations with our First Peoples," he told ABC Radio on Friday.
Nationals MP Keith Pitt, who says he will vote no at the referendum, said all members of parliament and senators were there to make representations on behalf of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, noting 11 parliamentarians were Indigenous Australians.
Mr Pitt said changing the constitution to mean Australians "won't be treated equally" is not something he could support.
Australian Associated Press
