Peter Dutton (Image: AAP/Lukas Coch)
Peter Dutton (Image: AAP/Lukas Coch)

The Liberal Party will formally oppose the government’s model for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.

Federal MPs decided at a meeting in Canberra on Wednesday the party would support constitutional recognition for First Nations peoples, but not a constitutionally enshrined Voice.

The Liberal Party would propose a legislated Voice model focusing on local and regional voices, rather than the constitutionally enshrined model proposed by the government, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said. He will grant backbenchers a conscience vote on the legislation.

“There was a resounding ‘no’ to the prime minister’s ‘Canberra Voice’,” Dutton told reporters after a party meeting. 

“It should be very clear to Australians by now that the prime minister is dividing our country and the Liberal Party seeks to unite our country.

“We want to make sure that we can get the best possible outcomes for Indigenous Australians and we do that through recognising Indigenous Australians in the constitution and by providing for their say, their voice to be heard by the government in a very clear way — but at a local level.”

Deputy Liberal Leader Sussan Ley said “today is not a ‘no’ from the Liberal Party — it’s a day of many yeses”.

Prior to the meeting, former Coalition Indigenous Australians minister Ken Wyatt, the first Aboriginal person chosen for that position, warned the party would “pay the consequences in the future” if it became out of touch with voters.

“Parties can no longer ignore the will of people because social media has a profound impact in informing people on [the] fairness they want within Australian society,” he told ABC Radio National on Wednesday. 

A poll published in The Australian showed a majority of Australians in a majority of states support the Voice, meaning it would succeed if held today. 

The Newspoll showed 54% of Australian voters support constitutional recognition and an Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament, and 38% are opposed. Queensland was the only state where a majority of respondents didn’t support the proposal. Younger voters were more likely to support the Voice, and the only age group where more respondents were opposed than in support was people aged over 65. 

Dutton had called the partyroom meeting to “rally the troops and endorse a position opposing the Albanese government’s Voice referendum model and constitutional amendment”, The Australian reported.

It comes after the Liberals lost the seat of Aston at the weekend in a once-in-a-century byelection fiasco. 

A bill introduced last week — marking the first formal step towards holding the referendum — is before a joint parliamentary committee and is likely to be voted on in June. 

Some Liberals, including legal affairs and Indigenous Australians spokesman Julian Leeser, want the party to back constitutional recognition for First Nations peoples but remove a part of the proposed amendment that would allow the Voice to advise Parliament and the executive government. 

The Uluru Statement from the Heart calls for “the establishment of a First Nations Voice enshrined in the constitution”.

The Nationals confirmed in November that they would oppose the Voice.