A former Morrison government minister has issued a warning to his ex-colleagues ahead of a Liberal Party meeting to discuss the Indigenous voice proposal.
Ken Wyatt, the first Indigenous Australian elected to the House of Representatives, said a lack of support from the Liberals for the voice could have consequences for the party in future elections.
“Parties can no longer ignore the will of people because social media has a profound impact in informing people on ... fairness they want within Australian society,” he told ABC Radio National on Wednesday.
“Parties that are out of touch will pay the consequence in the future.”
Liberal MPs are preparing to land a formal position on an Indigenous voice after spending months trading barbs with the prime minister over the proposal.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton summoned party members to a meeting in Canberra on Wednesday.
His deputy Sussan Ley said the party room would discuss the “substantial issues” they have with the voice proposal.
Ley said a bipartisan voice process had gone “off the rails” because the prime minister had not been willing to answer the opposition’s questions.
“There isn’t a moral high ground; there is no one (person) who is better able to articulate that by way of simply pushing something through and demanding that Australians vote for it,” she told Sky News ahead of the meeting.
“Unfortunately, in my view, the process has run well and truly off the rails.”
But Wyatt, a member of the government’s referendum working group providing advice on the voice, said Ley was incorrect.
“This is not all new work; it’s been a culmination from (former) prime minister John Howard, Julia Gillard and subsequent prime ministers,” he said.
“We’ve had this continuity, and there have been numerous reports ... people who argue contrary to that shows that they did not give scant attention to even the executive summary of those reports.”
Some elected Liberals have called for a conscience vote on the matter, with NSW senator Andrew Bragg and Victoria’s Jason Wood saying that was in line with party tradition.
The Yes 23 campaign, an independent group in favour of the referendum, is asking people who live in electorates represented by teal independents to contact Liberal MPs.
“It would be very powerful if you, as a former Liberal party constituent, would get on the phone to ensure that your voice is heard by some key Liberals as they head into the party room discussion,” the group said.
“If you have previously voted Liberal, tell them that and tell them why you changed your vote.”
Meanwhile, a Newspoll conducted for The Australian and reported on Tuesday night shows 54 per cent of all voters support constitutional recognition and The Voice to Parliament, with 38 per cent opposed.
The poll signals the likelihood that a referendum would meet the critical double majority test to succeed if one were held today and that the referendum would also meet the requirement of obtaining a majority of voters in a majority of states, with Queensland the only state to fall short.
But Liberal senator Hollie Hughes said the only poll which counted was the one on the day of the referendum, due to be held between October and December.
