Albo hits back at First Nations Voice criticism

Anthony Albanese will be hitting back at critics of the proposed First Nations Voice to parliament during an impassioned plea for Australians to back the cause.

Speaking at the Chifley Research Centre Conference on Sunday, the Prime Minister will urge Australians to support a referendum to enshrine an Indigenous voice in the Constitution.

Australians will vote in a referendum later this year on whether the constitution should be amended to create an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander body to provide advice to the parliament of the day on policies affecting Indigenous people.

Mr Albanese is set to explain during his speech how there would be clauses to ensure “mechanics for the Voice won’t be written into Constitution.”

“The Referendum Working Group have already outlined some clear fundamentals,” he will explain in a speech seen by NCA NewsWire ahead of the conference.

“The Voice won’t administer funding. It will not deliver programs.

“It will not have any kind of veto power over decision-making.”

It’s understood more information will become clearer later in the year.

Mr Albanese compared the vagueness of the proposed clauses with that of Parliament’s powers to make laws on the country’s defence, as outlined in the Constitution.

“It doesn’t spell-out the size of the ADF, or where it should be based or what sort of defence hardware we should have,” Mr Albanese states.

“And just as well – that section of the Constitution doesn’t even mention the air force, for the very good reason that it became law before the first powered flight.”

He will explain how the authors of Federation understood that it was up to the government, parliament and the people to “deal with the detail and implementation through legislation.”

“The Constitution contains the power and then parliament uses its democratic authority to build the institution and renovate it as needed.

“At this year’s referendum – Australians will be voting on the principle.”

His comments come after increasing criticism of the clauses proposed by the government for the First Nations Voice, calling for specifics to be clarified before a referendum is to be considered.

Liberal Opposition leader Peter Dutton recently wrote a letter with 15 questions to Mr Albanese, asking for further clarification on the Voice to parliament, after attending a referendum working group on Thursday.

“Australians deserve to be informed before voting at a referendum,” a Liberal Party spokesman said.

Shadow attorney-general Julian Leeser also urged the Albanese government to deal with the Opposition Leader’s “reasonable questions” about the Voice.

Mr Albanese will state during his speech on Sunday there are people pushing “misinformation” online and accuses them of “drumming up outrage, trying to start a culture war.”

“That’s an inevitable consequence of trying to achieve change,” he states.

“There are always those who want to create confusion and provoke division, to try and stall progress.

“But moments of national decision, such as this referendum, are also an opportunity for our people to show their best qualities: their generosity, their sense of fairness, their optimism for the future.

“That’s why I’m optimistic for the success of the referendum – because I’ve always been optimistic about the character of the Australian people.”