Albanese accuses Dutton of engaging in ‘culture war stunts’ over Indigenous voice

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has accused the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, of engaging in “cheap culture war stunts” over the Indigenous voice to parliament.

Dutton on Sunday demanded – in a letter to Albanese also released to the media – more detail on the proposed body which will be voted on at a referendum by the end of 2023.

The Liberal leader said Albanese would be “damaging reconciliation efforts” if the referendum failed and repeated his allegation that the government was being arrogant by not releasing more detail on how the voice would operate.

“It’s obvious the prime minister has made a political decision based on the advice of his strategists not to provide the detail to the Australian public, and by doing that, I really think he’s treating people like mugs,” Dutton told reporters on Sunday.

He suggested Labor should legislate the voice before the vote on constitutional change.

The Liberal leader wrote to Albanese outlining 15 questions he wanted the government to answer regarding eligibility and appointment of members, the voice’s functions, powers and costs, and how it could be dissolved or reconstituted. Dutton also asked how it would interact with the closing the gap process and suggested the voice should not be used to negotiate a treaty with Indigenous people.

“Many Australians do not understand the scope and operation of the voice and expect comprehensive information before being asked to vote,” Dutton wrote in his letter.

“I believe you are making a catastrophic mistake in not providing accessible, clear and complete information regarding your government’s version of the voice, condemning it to failure and, in turn, damaging reconciliation efforts in our country. Your approach will ensure a dangerous and divisive debate grounded in hearsay and misinformation.”

The government has repeatedly said the voice will broadly follow the model outlined in the 2021 co-design report from Marcia Langton and Tom Calma, twice presented to the Morrison cabinet by former Indigenous Australians minister Ken Wyatt under the former government. It sets out the voice in great detail.

Wyatt recently dismissed his former colleagues’ criticism as “laziness”.

The Albanese government has also not yet endorsed many details of the co-design report with the prime minister stressing it would be “subservient” to the parliament and therefore subject to legislative change.

Albanese responded to Dutton with a tweet, stating he had spoken to the opposition leader on Friday and hadn’t actually seen his letter, despite it being reported in multiple media outlets on Sunday.

“People are over cheap culture war stunts,” Albanese tweeted.

The Indigenous Australians minister, Linda Burney, posted a reply to Albanese’s tweet stating the voice would be ‘a unifying moment for Australia”. Burney has previously dismissed criticisms about a lack of detail as “rubbish”.

Labor MP Michelle Ananda-Rajah, the MP for Higgins, said Dutton was “not of good faith”.

Albanese has said the government “will continue to engage” on the voice in the lead-up to the referendum and government sources have said further detail on the model will be outlined in the coming months.

But, the prime minister has also repeatedly said “I don’t want it to be the government’s proposal” and stressed the final model would be subject to the approval of parliament. That suggests Labor may not specify an exact model before the referendum.

Referring to the Langton and Calma co-design report – which Albanese has pointed to when asked for detail – Dutton called for the government to clarify if it would adopt the exact settings suggested.

“They’re referencing … a good report but it has not been adopted by the government because there are options in the report,” he said.

“He hasn’t said that this is the reference document, this is what we will implement if the voice is successful at a constitutional vote.”