“The IPA welcomes the Leader of the Opposition’s announcement that the Liberal Party will formally reject a constitutionally enshrined race-based body, but warns against making any compromises,” said Morgan Begg, Director of Research at the Institute of Public Affairs.
Today’s announcement that the Liberal Party will formally oppose an Indigenous-only Voice to Parliament being inserted into the Australian Constitution, is an important step for the nation to ensure we are all equal before the law.
Mr Dutton also deserves credit for committing to actively campaign against the referendum proposal of the Federal Government.
“Formally opposing the referendum is in line with our egalitarian spirit, which drove Australians in 1967 to remove constitutional references to race. This remains a mainstream Australian value today. Race has no place in our Constitution,” said Mr Begg.
“As Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has repeatedly said, it is not racist to disagree with a proposal. All Australians should be equal, and the legal status of Australians should never be determined by skin colour or ethnic heritage.”
IPA research has shown there is a large and growing body of domestic and international evidence which demonstrates that the proposed Indigenous only Voice to Parliament will be more powerful and have a much more divisive impact on Australian culture and society than the Federal Government claims.
“The overwhelming majority of Australians agree that more work needs to be done to achieve better outcomes for remote and disadvantaged Indigenous communities. Seeking to permanently divide us by race will achieve nothing towards this, nor will more activists in Canberra,” said Mr Begg.
“Although the IPA welcomes the Liberal Party’s formal rejection of inserting the proposed Indigenous-only Voice to Parliament into the Constitution, compromises that will only benefit activists must be avoided.”
“Polls show a growing number of mainstream Australians are questioning the divisive agenda of Australia’s political and inner-city elite once they learn more about the proposed Indigenous-only Voice to Parliament.”
“The vote on the Voice is an opportunity for Australians to confirm their commitment to racial equality by saying no to a race-based body in the constitution, and rejecting the political elites’ divisive agenda,” said Mr Begg.
