Liberal MP Bridget Archer rubbishes opposition criticism of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament

The outspoken MP, who supports the Voice, has used her debate on the referendum-establishing constitutional alteration bill to say there has been deliberate and harmful misrepresentation of the facts about the Voice, and she has posed to critics: "What exactly do you hope to achieve?"

The intervention comes after the Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has described the proposed Voice as an "overcorrection" for disadvantage and a "reckless roll of the dice" which would have an Orwellian effect and "take our country backwards, not forwards".

He was quickly countered by the Minister for Indigenous Australians who said his speech was full of "disinformation and misinformation and scare campaigns that exist in this debate".

Ms Archer did not name Mr Dutton or the Liberal party but took time to address the most strident arguments against the Voice which were in his contribution on Monday.

"The Voice will not have veto power nor act as a third chamber," she told Parliament. "It will simply reasonably give advice on laws made specifically for and about Indigenous Australia. To claim otherwise is a deliberate and harmful misrepresentation of the facts.

"And I'm disappointed to have seen this wilfully perpetuated by some."

She said the argument the referendum is dividing the country by race does not make sense, as there is race-based power in Australian law being used only relating to First Nations people.

"So if these laws exist, it's reasonable [in] my mind that Indigenous people have their voices heard over those laws," Ms Archer said.

And she dismissed the argument the Voice is as, at best, tokenistic.

"Well, to me, there's nothing more tokenistic than supporting the recognition of our First Nations people and falling short of providing a permanent platform to ensure their voices are heard now and for generations to come," the Liberal MP told Parliament.

"If you support constitutional recognition, but you oppose the voice, what exactly do you hope to achieve? You can't have the symbolic without the practical they are intrinsically linked."

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Linda Burney and Mr Dutton on Monday opened the House of Representatives debate on the constitutional alteration bill, which a Labor-dominated parliamentary committee has recommended be passed without amendment.

Mr Dutton claimed that, if passed, the Voice will "fundamentally alter" Australia, and "not for the better".

He also referred to the George Orwell classic political satire, Animal Farm.

"Changing our constitution to enshrine a Voice will take our country backwards, not forwards," Mr Dutton told Parliament.

"It will have an Orwellian effect where, 'All Australians are equal, but some Australians are more equal than others'."

He claimed the Voice would leave the country "divided in spirit, and in law" and "permanently divide us by race" at a time when we need to "unite the country."

"The Voice will re-racialise our nation," he said.

"As I said, the Liberal Party supports constitutional recognition. But we do not support enshrining in our Constitution a divisive, disrupting and democracy-altering Canberra-based Voice."

If passed, the constitutional-alteration legislation triggers the holding of a referendum later this year proposing a Voice to Parliament be enshrined in the Constitution. The proposed referendum question, contained in the bill, also formally recognises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the First Peoples of Australia.

Mr Dutton repeated criticisms there has not been enough detail about the Voice and the Albanese government wants Australians to vote for it "on a vibe".

"Instead we had a 4.5-day committee, a kangaroo court led by a government that never wanted to entertain changes to its bill," he said.

"If Australians have buyer's remorse, the Voice comes with a no-returns policy. It's here to stay. And yet this institution hasn't even been roadtested. The approach is a reckless roll of the dice."

The Minister for Indigenous Australians has rubbished Mr Dutton's position, criticising him for peddling "disinformation and misinformation and scare campaigns that exist in this debate".

"This great endeavour has not been rushed into. No shortcuts have been taken. It has been a grassroots movement, the culmination of years of discussion, consultation and hard work by so many," she told Parliament.

"At its heart, the Uluru Statement [from the Heart] is about listening, listening to the advice from on the ground and communities, because this thing is a prerequisite for policies that work."

Ms Burney said all the best legal advice, including from the Solicitor-General, was not enough for those "hellbent on stoking division".

"It's not enough for those trying to play politics with an issue that should be above partisan politics," she said.