KEY POINTS:
- Former Indigenous Australians minister Ken Wyatt quits the Liberals over their Voice stance.
- Noel Pearson says the Liberal party's opposition to the Voice to Parliament is a "betrayal".
- The Liberal Party is set to formally oppose enshrining a Voice in the constitution.
Former Indigenous Australians minister Ken Wyatt has quit the Liberal Party over its opposition to the Voice to Parliament.
The party accepted a resignation from Mr Wyatt, the first Aboriginal person to hold the role, on Thursday, a day after leader to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's model.
Mr Wyatt , a long-term advocate for the Voice, told The West Australian on Thursday: “I still believe in the Liberal Party values but I don’t believe in what the Liberals have become.
“Aboriginal people are reaching out to be heard but the Liberals have rejected their invitation.”
Mr Wyatt warned last week his former party would be viewed as racist if it opted to oppose the body.
Mr Wyatt, with former prime minister Scott Morrison, is a long-term supporter of the Voice. Source: AAP
"I'm very sad that he felt the need to do that. But I'm also very proud that, while he was minister, he did advocate for the current model that the Liberal Party has adopted," she told the ABC.
Her colleague Paul Fletcher declined to assume the reasons behind Mr Wyatt's departure, but said ensuring a "respectful process" during the referendum debate was vital.
"I have enormous respect for Ken Wyatt. I think that's a respect that is felt right across the Liberal Party room," he said.
"I'll leave it to Ken to comment as to the reasons as to why he's taken the decision that he has."
Labor Senator Pat Dodson told ABC News that Mr Wyatt "wouldn't have taken this decision lightly".
"He would have [had angst] over it. And I'm sure he would be very disappointed that his party has shown absolutely no regard for the Aboriginal people, their leadership, and their efforts to find an accommodation with the Australian people through a Voice to Parliament," he said
His resignation comes as Noel Pearson, a Guugu Yimithirr man and one of the chief architects of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, said Mr Dutton will “bring the country to shame” by campaigning against the Voice, accusing him of “trying to bury" the Uluru Statement Statement from the Heart.
Mr Pearson warned the public debate will hit “extreme lows” over the next six months, but insisted a "unity ticket" between Mr Dutton and One Nation leader Pauline Hanson is unlikely to succeed at the ballot box.
Noel Pearson says Liberals will 'bring the country to shame'
Revealing the Liberals' long-awaited stance, Mr Dutton backed constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians and local and regional bodies to "get practical outcomes ... on the ground", a position with strong majority backing in the party room.
“At the end of the day, Mr Dutton has preferenced the unity of the party ahead of actually doing what's right for the country," Mr Pearson told SBS News.
"The mistake that he's made here is that as a leader, he needs to take his party with him, rather than coddling the party in their current position.”
Mr Pearson accepted that bipartisan support would have made "our job less divisive", but maintained the Voice - which polling shows retains strong community support - was still likely to succeed.
Noel Pearson has criticised Peter Dutton and the Liberal party over their stance on the Voice to Parliment. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas
"He's trying to bury Uluru, but I don't think he will succeed. I really do not think a unity ticket between Dutton and Pauline Hanson will succeed. It must not succeed. The country deserves something better for the future."
Mr Pearson said he was “completely confounded” by Coalition Indigenous Australians spokesperson Julian Leeser casting doubt over how Aboriginality would be defined for prospective Voice members.
“I'm wondering whether Julian expects us to wear a tattoo, identifying ourselves as Indigenous. Is that what he's saying?” he asked.
“Or that our clothes should be adorned with some kind of badge identifying us as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander?
“I think it's a completely dangerous idea and suggestion, and extremely offensive. But it's the kind of thing that will be raised time and again over the next six months.”
But he urged his fellow Yes campaigners to "always take the high road" regardless of how vitriolic the debate becomes.
"When they go low, we go high. When they raise the voices of fear and prejudice, we raise the response of loving and understanding," he said.
"We never succumb to hatred. We never succumb to prejudice. Instead, we respond with open hearts, because that is what the Australian people will respond to. The Australian people ... are a fair people."
Voice working group member calls Peter Dutton 'disingenuous'
Thomas Mayo, a member of the Voice working group, told SBS News that Mr Dutton’s framing of the issue as a “Canberra Voice” was “disingenuous”.
Mr Mayo — a Kaurareg Aboriginal and Kalkalgal, Erubamle Torres Strait Islander man — stressed the Uluru Statement from the Heart emerged from years of consultation with regional communities and was “driven by the grassroots”.
“A lot of Indigenous advocates have been speaking with [the Liberals] consistently over the years, to bring them on board, to address their concerns, to answer their questions. It's all been ignored,” he said.
“So it's a very disappointing moment to hear this dismissal from the Liberal Party.”
But Mr Mayo insisted the Liberals’ decision will give the Yes camp clarity after months of Mr Dutton running a “soft no” campaign.
“We’ve spent so much time on trying to convince the Liberals. Now we can get out there and just give that time to the Australian people,” he said.
“The Australian people are ultimately the decision makers in this. It's not the politicians. It's not about Canberra or Parliament House.”
Thomas Mayo, centre, says efforts to address the Liberals' concerns have 'all been ignored'. Source: AAP / Matt Turner
“They're not listening, not just to Indigenous people, but they're not listening to the Australian people. And they're going to leave them behind."
Assistant Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy also addressed the Liberal party's stance, describing the announcement as "very disappointing".
"It is difficult to win a referendum ... we know that only eight out of 44 have been won in our country," she told ABC News Breakfast on Thursday morning.
"And, of course, we've tried to seek bipartisanship from the get-go, so naturally it's very disappointing that Peter Dutton has made the announcement that he has."
She urged Australians to read the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and said discussions should not be focused on politicians.
"This focus is clearly on the politicians in Canberra, and that was never what the Uluru Statement was about, and it still isn't, really," she said.
"I would say to all Australians: go and have a read of the Uluru Statement from the Heart and remember what it was that First Nations people (are) generously asking and inviting you to journey on."
