Shadow attorney-general Julian Leeser says the inclusion of a new sentence explicitly recognising Indigenous Australians in the prime minister’s draft amendment underscores the need for a transparent public consultation process.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
Asked why he did not share his federal Liberal colleagues’ concerns about a lack of detail in the proposal,NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said he agreed with the Voice as a matter of principle and the issue should be above politics.
“It should be a moment which unites the country,doesn’t divide the country. And that’s been my position from the outset,” Perrottet said after a meeting of national cabinet in Canberra.
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In his speech to the Indigenous Garma Festival in July,Albanese unveiled three draft sentences that he said could be added to the Constitution to set up the Voice “in recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as the First Peoples of Australia”.
But this week the governmentappeared to update its draft amendment by including that line explicitly recognising Indigenous people. The extra sentence was included in a letter sent by Albanese to Opposition Leader Peter Dutton inviting him to make “practical suggestions” on the wording of the draft amendment.
Shadow attorney-general Julian Leeser,a long-time Voice supporter who has become increasingly critical of the government’s handling of the referendum process,said the emergence of the new sentence via a letter between the two leaders underscored the need for transparent public consultation.
“I was at Garma. I heard the[prime minister’s] speech. The way it is laid out in the transcript of his address ... that line was not part of the amendment and it has never been referred to as part of the amendment,” Leeser said on Friday.