Following the referendum to enshrine an Indigenous Voice to Parliament failing, Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has walked back his plans for a follow up referendum.
Last month Mr Dutton, said if elected his party would pitch a second referendum purely on constitutional recognition, arguing more Australians would get behind that proposal.
But now the Liberal leader has walked back those comments saying now that Australians are done with referendums following last Saturday’s voice referendum.
Speaking to reporters Mr Dutton said the future of the parties Indigenous policy will be led by Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price.
“Look, all of our policy … is going to be reviewed in the process Kerrynne [Liddle] and Jacinta [Price] will lead now.
I think that’s important, but I think it’s clear that the Australian public is probably over the referendum process for some time.”
It goes against what leading ‘No’ campaigner Warren Mundine has told the ABC this morning.
He says a referendum purely on constitution recognition would have garnered more support.
“I’d love that and most of Australia does, in fact 90 per cent of [Australians in] our polling tells us they’d want to do that as well,
But the issue we’ve got, and we all know this, is that the leadership of the Aboriginal community they don’t want it.
So we have to be working with those traditional owners and those First Nations people” he said.
Peter Dutton also took aim at the Prime Minister for Saturday’s failed referendum.
“I think that’s why there’s a lot of angst within the Labor party at the moment about why the prime minister just doesn’t get across the detail. When he does make a decision, it’s the wrong decision.
And we know, of course, millions of Australians at the moment are hurting because the prime minister has been completely obsessed with the voice over the course of the last 16 or 17 months.“
Reporting is showing only 39.4 per cent of voters supported the voice on a national level.
Despite the failure of the referendum, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says his government is still committed to tackling Indigenous disadvantage.
He says “The issues we sought to address have not gone away and neither have the people of goodwill and good heart, who want to address them and address them we will.”
