One of Anthony Albanese‘s most senior ministers has declared that an Indigenous Voice to Parliament is an inevitability in Australia.
Some 60 per cent of Australians voted No to Mr Albanese’s proposal to enshrine an Aboriginal advisory body in the constitution at a referendum in October 2023. All states and territories – except the ACT – rejected it in huge numbers.
But Foreign Minister Penny Wong has now claimed in her first-ever podcast interview that there will one day be a Voice – and Australians will wonder why there was ever an argument about it.
‘I think we’ll look back on it in 10 years’ time and it’ll be a bit like marriage equality,’ Senator Wong told the Betoota Talks podcast.
‘I always used to say, marriage equality, which took us such a bloody fight to get that done, and I thought, all this fuss.
‘It’ll become something, it’ll be like, people go “did we even have an argument about that?”
‘Like, kids today, or even adults today, barely kind of clock that it used to be an issue. Remember how big an issue that was in the culture wars?
‘Blimey, just endless.’
Foreign Minister Penny Wong (pictured) has now claimed that there will one day be a Voice – and Australians will wonder why there was ever an argument about it
The campaign was a major blow for the Labor government and Anthony Albanese, who hinged his legacy on the Voice
Senator Wong told the podcast that the Prime Minister thought the Voice was the best thing for the country.
‘He’s not a pull the pin kind of guy,’ she said.
‘Yeah, (the Prime Minister) thought it was the right thing to do and, you know, a lot of First Nations leaders wanted the opportunity.’
Asked about Wong’s comments on Wednesday morning, Mr Albanese claimed she had not suggested the Voice was inevitable at all.
‘Well, she didn’t say that at all,’ Mr Albanese told ABC Radio Melbourne.
‘She spoke about how people will look back on what the issues were. That’s very different from saying it’s inevitable.’
Mr Albanese has repeatedly said there will be not be another referendum.
Asked by Channel Seven’s Political Editor Mark Riley during Sunday night’s leaders’ debate whether he still believed in the Voice, Mr Albanese responded: ‘It’s gone’.
Three days out from the election, it is a political gift to Peter Dutton who is trailing badly in the polls
‘I respect the outcome (of the referendum), we live in a democracy,’ he said.
Pushed on his position, he added: ‘We need to find different paths to affect reconciliation.’
But Wong’s comments threaten to undermine the official Labor position, which has sought to distance the administration as much as possible from the disastrous result.
The disastrous Voice campaign was a major blow for the Labor government and Albanese, who hinged his legacy on the proposal.
He went to the 2022 federal election with the referendum promise, spoke about it in his first speech as the PM and campaigned tirelessly for most of 2023, instead of focussing on the election issue that mattered to most Aussies – the cost of living.
Daily Mail Australia has asked the Prime Minister’s office whether he too believes the Voice will one day be resurrected.
Wong’s comments are a political gift to Peter Dutton who is trailing badly in the polls three days out from the federal election.
The Opposition Leader tried to bring up the failure of the Voice in the leaders’ debate on Sunday night in the context of Welcome to Country ceremonies.
He said he thought the ceremonies were ‘overdone’, cheapening their significance.
The disastrous Voice campaign was a major blow for the Labor government and Albanese, who hinged his legacy on the proposal
‘It divides the country, not dissimilar to what the Prime Minister did with the Voice,’ he said.
On Wednesday morning he accused Senator Wong of ‘letting the cat out of the bag’.
‘Under a Labor-Greens government we see this secret plan to legislate the Voice and Penny Wong has let that cat out of the bag,’ Mr Dutton told reporters.
‘People will be opposed to that because they thought they sent a very clear message to the Prime Minister that they didn’t want the Voice.’
Mr Dutton claimed legislating the Voice would be ‘one of the first items of business for a Labor-Greens government’.
‘It’s obvious the Prime Minister shares the view of Penny Wong,’ he added.
‘He’s just not as honest as Penny Wong and Australians should know that if you vote for Anthony Albanese, he hasn’t listened the first time around in relation to your decision on the Voice referendum.
‘Send him a message at this election that no, we’re not going to support a Voice legislated by Labour and the Greens and treaty and truth-telling. We expressed our view very clearly.’
Treasurer Jim Chalmers was already trying to walk back Senator Wong’s colleague’s comments about the Voice being inevitable.
Asked on Channel Nine whether he would rule out pursuing another referendum, he insisted it was not part of Labor’s ‘agenda’.
‘We’re looking forwards, not backwards,’ he said.
‘We were disappointed about the outcome back then, but we’ve been looking forwards and not backwards. And it’s not part of our agenda.’
Queensland saw the strongest rejection of the Voice in any state or territory, with 68 per cent No.
Just three of the Sunshine State’s 30 federal electorates supported the proposal – and it had the top six electorates with the highest share of No votes in the country.