Canberra Liberal MLAs will have a free vote on the issue of the Voice to Parliament referendum and will not be bound by a party position, party leader Elizabeth Lee announced.
“The purpose of a referendum is an opportunity for all Australians to have their say; to have their vote on this important issue, and for many it is very personal,” she said.
In her view, it should be no different for politicians.
“It is also important to note that this is not a vote that is before the ACT Legislative Assembly,” she said.
“The Canberra Liberals acknowledge and respect the diverse range of views on this issue amongst Canberra’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities,” Ms Lee said today.
Last month, the Liberals refused to back Chief Minister Andrew Barr’s executive motion that the entire Legislative Assembly should reaffirm its support for the Voice, commit to delivering Treaty and Truth, and recognise that sovereignty was never ceded.
Ms Lee argued that the ACT Government had not discussed the issue with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Several members of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body (which advises the government about improving the lives of Indigenous Canberrans and reconciliation) and of the Indigenous community had told the Canberra Liberals that the government did not inform them of Mr Barr’s executive motion, or approach them for their views and engagement on the Voice.
She remarked that the ACT’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities had diverse views about the Voice to Parliament, “from those who are firmly in favour of it, to those who are firmly against it, to those who are still considering this important question”.
Her amendment – which the government rejected – called on the ACT Government to consult and listen to Canberra’s Indigenous community, and report back to the Assembly in June.
“The Canberra Liberals are absolutely committed to ensuring the best outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Canberrans,” Ms Lee said today.
“We have seen the continued devastating impacts of poor outcomes for our Indigenous Canberrans under decades of Labor and the Greens.”
For instance, the Productivity Commission’s Report on Government Services (RoGS), published in January, showed that Indigenous incarceration had increased over the last decade. Last year, the Liberals complained that the government was slow in setting up a service for Indigenous women victims of family violence; a report had recommended establishing the service a decade before. The year before, the government vetoed a Liberal motion for a review into racism at the Alexander Maconochie Centre – put forward on behalf of the Indigenous community.
- ROGS: Indigenous overrepresentation in ACT justice system worsening (3 February)
- Indigenous family violence service set up years after recommendation (10 March 2022)
- Government rejects Liberals’ call for racism investigation at AMC (11 February 2021)
- Indigenous advocates furious government rejected proposed AMC inquiry (11 February 2021)
“It is clear there is a long way to go for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Canberrans as we have raised concern about for some years now, and we will continue to consult with the communities,” Ms Lee said.
Nationally, federal opposition leader Peter Dutton has said he supports a Voice in the legislation, but believes the referendum is likely to fail because Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has not provided enough detail. However, The Guardian reported, Mr Dutton told the referendum working group the Voice was “the right thing to do”.
Country Liberal Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, an Aboriginal woman, opposes the Voice, arguing the “dangerous and divisive” scheme is impractical and will not solve Indigenous disadvantage.
Chris Kenny, former chief of staff to prime ministers Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull, wrote in the Australian that conservatives helped formulate the Voice model: the previous Coalition government’s Indigenous Voice Senior Advisory Group worked on a model “that satisfied all aspirations except constitutional enshrinement”.
