The back-and-forth between the government and the opposition about the details of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament has dragged into this week.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s demands for more detail have been dismissed as “disingenuous” by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, with Dreyfus declaring today that Dutton should “stop talking out both sides of his mouth” on an issue that is “too important” to Australia.
So what should Australians who want more information do before they make up their minds on the referendum?
Gabrielle Appleby, a constitutional expert at the University of New South Wales and the Indigenous Law Centre, said there was easily digestible and accurate information that people can access if they want to learn more.
“There is the official government website that provides some information already, particularly on the previous processes that led to the Uluru Statement, the Morrison government’s co-design process, and the government’s current process,” Appleby told Crikey.
“Then there are websites like the one put together by those involved in the Uluru Statement, which has a series of explainers and frequently asked questions that you can go and read.
“But I think the key part if you’re an interested Australian citizen is to stay an interested Australian citizen.”
Appleby said it was likely the referendum wouldn’t occur until September or October, and that there would be plenty of time for people to educate themselves on the issue.
“The government education campaign and the information that’s going to be part of that has not yet started rolling out,” she said.
However, Appleby said it would be helpful to focus on what the Voice means in principle, rather than the details of the model.
“I think what people need to understand is that they’re performing a constitutional role, and it’s to be taken seriously, and they do need information. That has to be the starting point,” she said.
She said the key thing to understand was that the referendum has two purposes. The first is to make sure the Australian state recognises the special place and history of Indigenous peoples. The second is to make a structural institutional change so that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have a right to participate in relation to government and parliamentary decisions that are made about them.
“The actual detail of how that participation is going to be operationalised will be set by legislation, and can be tinkered with and improved over time,” she said.
She compared it with other referendums, such as those held by the colonies in the 1890s to adopt the Australian constitution.
“The Australian people were asked to vote on the idea of a Commonwealth Parliament,” she said.
“But they were not asked to vote on exactly how these people would be elected, the numbers of parliamentarians, that type of thing.”
