State voices in harmony
Premiers, chief ministers to back referendum
AUSTRALIA’S premiers and chief ministers have thrown their support behind the Indigenous Voice to parliament.
Anthony Albanese and the leaders of the six states and territories all signed a bipartisan statement of intent to back the Voice referendum at a national cabinet meeting at Parliament House in Canberra on Friday.
Australians will vote this year in a referendum that, if successful, will change the Constitution to embed a body to provide advice to the parliament of the day on policies affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
In their statement, the
Prime Minister and the premiers and chief ministers said they would work together on the referendum.
“We recognise this significant opportunity to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as the first peoples of Australia in our constitution,” the statement reads.
“All state and territory governments support the Australian Government in ensuring Australians are afforded a free and fair referendum process.”
The leaders have committed to support the Voice referendum by working together on national measures to “ensure the integrity and transparency of the referendum process”.
The state and territory governments will also consider steps for implementing the Voice following a successful referendum, including assisting in designing the advisory body and making similar arrangements at regional and local levels.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff, the only two Liberal leaders at a state level in Australia, both support the Voice.
This puts the state governments they lead at odds with their Coalition counterparts in Canberra, where the federal Nationals have ruled out supporting the Voice and the Liberals are yet to come to a position.
Mr Perrottet said the Indigenous Voice issue “should be above politics”.
“It should be a moment which unites the country and doesn’t divide the country – that has been my position from the outset,” he said.
Federal Liberal leader Peter Dutton has committed to further engagement with the Indigenous representatives advising the federal government on the referendum, after attending his first meeting with the group.
However, Mr Dutton is still pushing for more information on the scope and powers of the Voice before he confirms whether or not he will back the proposal.
Speaking to Nine’s Today program on Friday, Mr Dutton said Mr Albanese was withholding details as part of a deliberate political strategy.
“Like all Australians, we want to see a better outcome for the Indigenous people of our country,” he said.
“We want to see the health gap narrowed, the life expectancy to improve.
“We are willing to look at any measure to do that. But there are lots of questions around the Voice, lots of detail that hasn’t yet been provided.”
The Albanese government has maintained that amending the Constitution is the form of recognition Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders asked for in the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart, saying the finer details will be ironed out via the usual parliamentary processes when the Voice is legislated.