A former prime minister has weighed in on the voice debate saying that he supports the referendum but conceded that the no campaign has “legitimate reasons” to vote against enshrined voice.
Speaking on ABC radio on Tuesday, former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said that he has ultimately decided to choose yes despite some reservations.
“I don’t like the idea of having any position under our constitution with a qualification that is anything other than Australian citizenship…
I’m going to vote for the voice, but there are perfectly legitimate reasonable reasons to vote against the voice..
My view is that you shouldn’t attack the motives of those who are against the voice that is only going to get more people to vote no,” he said.
Despite support of the voice from key members of the party across the country the Liberal party is yet to formally announce their stance on the referendum.
When asked if current Liberal Party leader Peter Dutton’s apology for not attending Kevin Rudd’s apology to the Stolen Generation in 2008 could pave a way for party support for the referendum, Turnbull said “that it could, it absolutely could.”
The former leader was also quick to shoot down the tactic of labelling no voters as being on “the wrong side of history” as he remembered his time as a key figure in the 1999 Republic referendum.
“Even though you may think someone is taking the wrong political position at a given time, in most cases they’ll be able to survive that and go on to whatever else they’re seeking to do,” he said.
