Albanese rejects Dutton’s call to legislate Indigenous voice before referendum

Anthony Albanese has rejected the opposition leader’s call for the Indigenous voice to be legislated before a referendum is held and warned against appealing to “fear rather than hope” during the debate.

The prime minister on Tuesday urged Australians to back constitutional change – the model “Indigenous people themselves have said they want” via the 2017 Uluru statement – as Peter Dutton escalated his calls for more detail.

Albanese also rejected claims by Tony Abbott that the consultative body amounted to a form of “co-governance”.

On Sunday, Dutton released a letter demanding extra detail on the proposed voice. He accused Albanese of “treating people like mugs” for holding a referendum primarily on the principle of its establishment.

On Tuesday, Dutton said Labor could “put [the voice] in legislation tomorrow” to demonstrate it was effective before holding a referendum.

Albanese earlier said “the fact is Indigenous people themselves have said that they want the voice enshrined in the constitution”.

“The details of how it operates will be subject to legislation – that’s the whole point,” the prime minister said.

“Over a period of time, the success of the voice will be determined by the capacity of the parliament to enact laws [for its function] … because the voice isn’t above the parliament, it’s subservient to it.”

Albanese said the status quo was not working, citing the massive gaps in Indigenous and non-Indigenous incarceration rates, educational outcomes and life expectancy.

Dutton told ABC’s 7.30 there was “nothing wrong with an advisory body” and the Coalition “brought forward a policy that would allow that, particularly a regional voice”.

In December 2021, the Morrison government proposed a series of local-level bodies with a national body supposedly to follow, which Labor said had little resemblance to the Uluru statement.

Dutton said “every Australian wants to see a better outcome for Indigenous Australians” but he didn’t want to see the situation deteriorate because “we’ve created a great big new bureaucracy”.

Dutton claimed that the Tom Calma and Marcia Langton co-design report “goes beyond” recommending an advisory body, despite the fact Labor has repeatedly said the voice would provide advice only.

He said if the government was proposing a system that would “dramatically change the way in which our democracy would operate we need to know the pros and cons”.

Albanese’s position has also come under fire from Abbott – a former Liberal prime minister – who wants acknowledgment of Indigenous people in the constitution without the consultative body being enshrined.

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“This is so much more than recognition, it’s really about governance,” Abbott said last week. “It’s getting towards co-governance of the sort which is being moved towards in New Zealand with the Maori people.”

New Zealand’s parliament has reserved seats for Maori representatives – unlike the voice proposal for a separate body that would be consulted but could not determine legislative outcomes.

Albanese said he “doesn’t question the fact” Abbott cares about the gap in Indigenous outcomes but rejected his characterisation of Labor’s proposal.

“The fact is this is not a co-governance model … at all. It’s subservient to the parliament,” he said.

Albanese said a loss at the referendum, which Labor plans to hold in the second half of 2023, would send “a bad message” about reconciliation and affect “the way Australia is perceived internationally”.

Albanese noted “it’s a lot easier to appeal to fear rather than hope”.

On ABC’s 7.30 on Monday, Albanese said the government wanted the referendum process to be “inclusive” and “people can either look for a way in which this can be given support or they can look for reasons to disagree and look for division”.

Albanese said he was “disappointed” Dutton had briefed media about his concerns rather than being “fair dinkum” and coming up with “a constructive proposal”.