The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, says the government won’t try to legislate a voice to parliament if the no vote wins next weekend’s referendum on enshrining the body in the constitution.
Albanese on Sunday was asked on ABC TV: “If it’s a no vote, you walk away from the voice altogether?”
“Correct,” the prime minister replied on Insiders.
“We will continue to do what we can to listen to Indigenous Australians. We try that now. But Indigenous Australians are saying that they want it [the voice] to be enshrined.”
There had been speculation the government could look to legislate a voice if the referendum to alter the constitution failed.
But the PM on Sunday said Labor would “respect the response of Australians next Saturday”.
“If Australians vote no, I don’t believe that it would be appropriate to then go and say, ‘Oh, well, you’ve had your say, but we’re going to legislate anyway’.”
Albanese said while there were measures to tackle Indigenous disadvantage in place they wouldn’t be “as effective as having a body, a voice, to be listened to”.
The Labor leader said he was “concerned” about where a no vote would leave the reconciliation journey.
Earlier in the week, leading yes campaigner Noel Pearson warned there was “no plan B” if the no vote was successful.
“No will be a disaster for all of us. We will all lose, including the no campaigners,” Pearson told 3AW radio.
“If we vote yes, we’ll all win, including the no campaigners. This will be good for them and the entire country if we vote yes.”
after newsletter promotion
The prime minister on Sunday also took aim at the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, over his pledge to hold another referendum if the Coalition won government at the next election expected in 2025.
Dutton has said he would hold a second vote to recognise Indigenous people in the constitution.
Albanese pointed to Dutton’s decision to walk out of the 2008 apology to the Stolen Generations – which the opposition leader has since conceded was a mistake.
“Peter Dutton says he’s going to have another referendum, but this is a guy who walked out on the apology because he found it so offensive that it would have such dire consequences. Guess what? It didn’t. He was wrong then, which is why he apologised, and he’s wrong now,” Albanese said.
The Australian Electoral Commission said on Sunday that more than 2 million Australians had already cast their vote in the 2023 referendum.