Kamahl backflips again on Voice and returns to No camp

“If you do the Voice this way, it becomes a racist issue, you’re putting a whole race of people separate to the rest of the country.”

Acknowledging the government needed to do more to improve Indigenous livelihoods, Kamahl said he did not believe the Voice was the appropriate mechanism.

“I don’t think you really need a Voice – they already have a voice,” he said.

On Saturday, the prime minister said he grew up watching Kamahl and took heart from his Yes stance.

“He’s someone who came out and said No and went away, spoke to people, read what it was about, read the question and decided that he would come out and declare his support for Yes,” Albanese said. “We have now a new term we’ve coined today: ‘Kamahl-mentum’.”

Asked about Albanese’s words, Kamahl said: “I’m sorry, I apologise… Whatever I said before now – wipe it out. But start all over again now and forgive me.”

The Malaysian-born man of Indian descent promised he would not change his mind a third time in the lead-up to the October 14 referendum, which polling suggests will fail.

As recently as Saturday morning, Kamahl posted on social media re-stating the Yes position he announced late last week, saying a Yes vote was “by far” the best thing for the country.

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