Public vote on Constitution call

THE Prime Minister and Opposition Leader have been urged to hold a public vote on changing the Constitution to include an indigenous voice in Parliament.

The Referendum Council, set up in 2015 to advise Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten on constitutional recognition for indigenous Australians, canvassed the proposal during a meeting with the pair yesterday.

The Prime Minister was noncommittal, describing the recommendation as a “big idea” very short on detail.

“It couldn’t be shorter on detail, in fact, but it is a very big idea,” Mr Turnbull said during the meeting in Sydney.

“And it is a very big new idea, so it’s worthy of consider- able discussion here today.”

The single proposal would establish a constitutionally entrenched indigenous advisory body to the Federal Parliament.

The Prime Minister said the recommendation was a relatively new one in the debate on constitutional recognition for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Mr Turnbull — who led the failed republican campaign — said he knew better than most how hard it was to change the Constitution. “We do not want to embark — I’m sure none of us do — in some sort of exercise of heroic failure,” he said.

“We need to ensure that any changes that are proposed are ones that meet both the expectations of First Australians but also will bring together all Australians.” — AAP