First Nations ‘already have a voice’: Abbott
Laura Placella
LAURA PLACELLA

Former prime minister Tony Abbott has argued that an Indigenous voice to parliament is not necessary because First Nations people already have a “voice”, positing that the country should find “better ways to recognise Aboriginal people in our Constitution”.

Mr Abbott, in an opinion piece published in the Daily Telegraph, said there is “all-but-universal support” for recognising Indigenous people in the Constitution.

“But this proposal for a constitutionally entrenched Indigenous voice to the government and to the parliament is way beyond recognition,” he said.

“Is that what we really want in our constitution: two classes of Australians, based on race? That’s why the coming referendum is almost sure to be the most important issue our country faces next year and why it deserves far more debate in detail than it’s had so far.”

Mr Abbott, in his piece, said the “voice” Indigenous people already have is the Australian parliament, which now has a record 11 Indigenous MPs.

“All of whom have been chosen and elected in the normal way. Because Australian voters have become so lacking in prejudice and are now so appreciative of the qualities of Indigenous people as to disproportionately put them into our national parliament,” he said.

“Although our country has never tried harder to give minorities a fair go, Indigenous people especially, that’s not enough for the Albanese government.

“Hence this push for a separate and special Indigenous body, over and above the Indigenous MPs already in the parliament, the national Indigenous “coalition of peaks”, and all the Aboriginal land councils that already cover the whole country and represent the traditional owners in whom authority used to rest.

“This can’t be because Aboriginal people currently lack a voice. Many Indigenous people speak out powerfully and effectively in our public life.”

He added that the Indigenous voice to parliament is not about “listening more closely to Indigenous views” or about “recognising in our constitution that Aboriginal people were here first”.

“It’s about introducing a kind of co-governance where nothing can be done for 100 per cent of the people without taking into account the concerns of that 4 per cent, some of whose ancestors came before 1788,” he said.

Concluding, Mr Abbott said unless the federal government plans to release more detail on the Voice, Australians will be expected to vote on the “vibe”.

“I hope you will join people like Senator Jacinta Price, a proud Celtic, Warlpiri Australian woman, not just to oppose this unnecessary Voice which would be wrong in principle and bad in practice, but in finding better ways to recognise Aboriginal people in our constitution and to have the original Australians participate more fully in the great life we have here.