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The Liberal frontbencher Simon Birmingham says he won’t campaign against the Indigenous voice to parliament, becoming the latest opposition member to show reluctance to support the party’s official position on the referendum.
Former Liberal minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt said some of his former colleagues were being “tested” after the party’s policy to campaign against the voice was revealed, as fallout continues from Julian Leeser’s resignation from the opposition frontbench.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, was in Alice Springs on Wednesday, continuing to back in his decision. Appearing with the Nationals senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, a leading campaigner for a No vote, Dutton claimed he had been approached by ordinary people who had asked him to oppose the voice.
But on Sky News, Birmingham, the shadow foreign affairs minister, said he did not plan to actively campaign against the Indigenous voice. Asked if he would campaign for a no vote, Birmingham responded: “That’s not my intention.
“My intention is to respect the Australian people, who will go about this referendum applying their judgment to the issues that are before them at the time,” he said.
“I think listening is crucial if we’re to achieve the best possible outcome from this, possible reconsideration across the political divide.”
Birmingham noted there were “different opinions” on the referendum and said he had concerns about the level of detail provided by the government, but did not say he would oppose the voice. Asked how he would personally vote in the referendum, he declined to say.
Guardian Australia reported last week that Birmingham, the leading moderate in the Liberal partyroom, was among several frontbenchers who spoke against the agreed party policy in a shadow cabinet meeting.
In a further snub of the Coalition’s stance on the referendum, Wyatt joined the Labor minister Linda Burney to campaign for the voice in Perth. He is a member of the referendum working group of Indigenous leaders which is advising the government on the constitutional amendment and question.
Wyatt, who quit the Liberal party last week after the decision to oppose the voice, asked voters to support the Indigenous voice.
“The voice is an important step to change … If we maintain the status quo, nothing will change. This is about a better future,” he said.
“All those people listening, I want you to think about giving us the opportunity to sit at the tables at every level and to be a part of what we, as Aboriginal people from WA, are asking for. A voice.”
Asked about the fractures appearing in the Liberal party over the voice, Wyatt said he believed that Dutton would eventually give all his party colleagues a conscience vote. Currently, shadow cabinet is bound to oppose the referendum but backbenchers are free to set their own stance.
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“I think Peter Dutton will give them a conscience vote,” Wyatt said. “They will then express the way they want to vote. I do hope that many more come across.
“I think there are individuals who are being tested and they will make up their minds. We’ve seen Julian [Leeser] make a tough decision and those decisions are not easy.”
Burney said she would continue to “have an open door” to Leeser, who has proposed further changes to the government’s amendment proposal. She said the government was open to suggestions, particularly through the six-week parliamentary inquiry beginning on Friday, but noted the weight of work and consultation that had led to the proposed constitutional alteration.
“The wording has not come out of thin air. “The wording that is in front of the parliament, and three amendments to the constitution, have been worked through for years and years and years.
“The government has taken its direction from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across this country.”
Asked about the power of the voice to advise executive government, a key sticking point for conservative sceptics of the referendum, Burney said it was a critical inclusion, and downplayed concerns as “alarmist”.
“The reason why executive government was important, particularly to the working group, is that many decisions that are made in governments are made by senior bureaucrats,” she said. “It is why the executive government was so important to be included.”
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