Labor Will Not Legislate Indigenous Voice If Referendum Fails: Prime Minister

Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese addresses the crowd wearing a 'Yes' T-shirt at 'Now & Forever' at Shepparton Showgrounds in Shepparton, Australia, on Oct. 6, 2023. Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images

The Australian government won’t legislate an Indigenous Voice to Parliament if the No vote wins in next weekend’s referendum, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

Speaking to ABC Insiders on Oct. 8, Mr. Albanese said the government would respect the decision of Australians on enshrining a First Nations advisory body in the Constitution, which will take place in a referendum vote on Oct. 14.

When asked if the government would “walk away from The Voice altogether” following a No vote, Mr. Albanese said, “Correct.”

“If Australians vote No, I don’t believe that it would be appropriate to go then and say, ‘Oh, well, you’ve had your say, but we’re going to legislate anyway,’” he said.

“We will continue to do what we can to listen to Indigenous Australians. We try that now, but Indigenous Australians say they want it to be enshrined.”

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks at the Yes campaign launch in Adelaide, Australia, on Aug. 30, 2023. James Elsby/Getty Images

The referendum will ask Australians:

“A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.

“Do you approve this proposed alteration?”

The Voice would advise and make representations to the government about matters affecting Indigenous communities. Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney said it would prioritise Indigenous health, housing, education, and jobs.

Mr. Albanese cast his Yes vote in an early voting centre in Marrickville, Sydney, on Oct. 7, saying, “There is nothing to fear from voting Yes, but everything to gain” while he opposed former prime ministers’ opinions.

“I’m not going to take lectures from John Howard, who was in office for 12 years, and Tony Abbott, the [former] Prime Minister of this nation as well, who cut funding for Indigenous programs in his 2014 budget,” he said.

“Because those two simple changes, recognition and the opportunity to listen through a non-binding advisory committee, will make the greatest country on Earth much greater.

“We have this opportunity before us. It may not come around for a very long time again.”

While polling trends indicate the No vote is likely to succeed, Mr. Albanese said, “The consequence of voting No is that no does lead us nowhere.”

Second Referendum If Voice To Parliament Fails: Coalition

Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said he would hold a second referendum to enshrine a First Nations advisory body if elected.

However, he was campaigning against The Voice, which Mr. Albanese said was a “failure to really show leadership.”

In an interview with Sky News Australia, Mr. Dutton said The Voice was “not in the country’s best interest” and would not provide Indigenous Australians with “practical outcomes” in regional and remote areas.

He said the government’s $450 million exercise that was dividing the nation would be “much better spent” building boarding houses in Indigenous schools to provide safety for children.

Australian Opposition Leader Peter Dutton (C) speaks to the media during a press conference alongside Indigenous Senators Kerrynne Liddle (L) and Jacinta Price (R) in Adelaide, Australia, on April 18, 2023. AAP Image/Michael Errey

Shadow Minister for Indigenous Affairs and leading No campaigner, Senator Jacinta Price, recently called for a probe into the billions of taxpayer money being spent on Indigenous affairs.

“We’re going to do what we haven’t done yet. We’re going to find out where the billions of dollars are being spent,” Senator Price said at a “No” campaign forum in Perth on Sept. 2.

“We are going to say right who else is accountable for this, we know that governments have, you know, made mistakes in the past, absolutely. On both sides, we’ve got to do things better.”

However, over 80 percent of First Nations people support The Voice, according to The Uluru Statement (TUS) in a release arguing Mr. Dutton was spreading lies and misinformation.

When addressing Mr. Dutton’s statement that The Voice would “drive us apart, not bring us together. Voting ‘No’ is not to turn our backs on disadvantaged Indigenous Australians,” TUS said Mr. Dutton was already turning his back on Indigenous people.

But according to internal polling by the No campaign, Indigenous support for The Voice was largely in line with other polls for all Australians, reported the Sunday Telegraph.

Their results showed Indigenous support fell to 57 percent in May from 60 percent in February, compared to 54 percent down from 59 percent in the same period for all Australians. The Epoch Times has not seen the results.

A spokesperson for the No campaign noted they had not held a national poll since May and acknowledged that it was an online poll, meaning only Indigenous people with internet access would have been able to respond.

Meanwhile, Mr. Albanese also highlighted Mr. Dutton’s decision to withdraw the 2008 apology to the Stolen Generations. The Opposition Leader has since said that was a “mistake.”

“Peter Dutton says he’s going to have another referendum, but this guy walked out on the apology because he found it so offensive that it would have such dire consequences. Guess what? It didn’t. He was wrong then, which is why he apologised, and he’s wrong now,” Mr. Albanese said.

Further, Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young blamed Mr. Dutton for the “sinister” decreased support for The Voice, adding she put the blame “squarely at the feet” of One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, too.

“Peter Dutton, in particular, made this referendum divisive the day he said he would campaign no,” Ms. Hanson-Young said.