Details of Upcoming Referendum to Change Constitution Revealed

Indigenous leader Warren Mundine says government avoiding opponents of the 'Voice'

Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese makes a statement in the House of Representatives at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on Feb. 13, 2023. (Martin Ollman/Getty Images)

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has revealed the exact wording that Australians will vote on in the upcoming referendum on whether to change the country’s Constitution.

Voters will be asked: “A proposed law to alter the constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice. Do you approve this proposed alteration?”

The change will involve adding these phrases to the Constitution:

“There shall be a body to be called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice;

“The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice may make representations to Parliament and the executive government of the Commonwealth on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples;

“The Parliament shall, subject to this constitution, have the power to make laws with respect to matters relating to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, including its composition, functions, powers and procedures.”

An introductory phrase is also proposed: “In recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Peoples of Australia.”

An emotional Albanese appealed to Australians to back the Voice.

“Every Australian wants us to close the gap and today points the way to how. By enshrining a voice in our Constitution and by listening to that voice,” he told reporters on March 23.

“All of us can own an equal share of what I believe will be an inspiring and unifying Australian moment,” he said, reiterating that the Voice will have no actual legislative powers and can only make “representations” to Parliament.

Details Still Missing

In response, opposition leader Peter Dutton reiterated calls for detail around the proposal,

“I think it is incumbent on the prime minister to the Australian public if you’re proposing a very significant change to our founding document. How will it deliver practical outcomes to Indigenous Australians?” he told reporters.

Albanese said the actual nuts and bolts of the Voice would be determined by the Parliament after the constitutional vote is held.

Meanwhile, South Australia’s decision to forge ahead with its own version of the Voice could provide an insight into what the body could look like.

According to details obtained by The Australian newspaper, the state’s proposal will cost local taxpayers around $10 million (US$6.89 million) and entails electing 46 delegates to sit on seven local and one statewide “Voice” bodies.

Only voters with an Aboriginal background will be allowed to vote for their representative and will need to declare their heritage with the state’s electoral commission.

Delegates will also have the power to address SA’s House of Assembly (lower house) and Legislative Council (upper house) on any bill they deem to have an interest in.

The federal model will include representatives across Australian jurisdictions and the Torres Strait region. It will also include members that are younger, “gender balanced,” and be selected by communities, not the government.

Indigenous Leader Says PM Avoiding Opponents of the ‘Voice’

Indigenous leader Warren Mundine, and former Australian Labor Party national president, said despite promises of consultation, the final words were exactly the same as the draft unveiled in July 2022 at the Garma Festival.

“It’s the same old again, it hasn’t changed one iota about what they’re going to do. All this week’s discussions were wasted time,” he told The Epoch Times.

Mundine said that a day earlier the prime minister and Indigenous Minister Linda Burney did not meet with 20 community leaders in Canberra.

“They were Aboriginals from remote and regional Australia. From Ngukurr, Alice Springs, Cowra, and Sydney. One has to ask the question: What voices do these people want to hear?” he said, accusing the Labor government of only listening to supporters of the “Voice.”

“Is it just their own mates or it is all Aboriginal people that they want to hear from?”

The Epoch Times was told by an advisor of the Indigenous minister that they were members of the “No” campaign against the Voice and no such meeting was scheduled.