KEY POINTS
- Peter Dutton and Anthony Albanese are in a war of words over the Voice to Parliament.
- The Opposition leader wants the PM to put forward the government's preferred model ahead of a referendum.
- Mr Albanese has labelled Mr Dutton's attacks "cheap culture war stunts".
Peter Dutton and Anthony Albanese have clashed over the Indigenous Voice to Parliament with the Opposition leader accusing the prime minister of being scant in detail over the proposal as the federal government prepares to launch its 'Yes' campaign.
Mr Dutton on Sunday told reporters Mr Albanese was treating the public "like mugs" over the Voice as he calls for the government to introduce the Voice model to parliament before it heads to .
It comes after the Opposition leader wrote in a letter to Mr Albanese that the government was making a "catastrophic mistake" by not putting forward its preferred model ahead of the referendum, and that not doing so would spark a "dangerous and divisive" debate.
"People have got reasonable questions. There are many Australians if they had detail in front of them about a particular model, they could support the Voice," Mr Dutton told reporters on Sunday.
"You can't just say to the Australian public as the prime minister, 'you vote at an election ... on a Saturday and we'll give you the detail on the Monday'. It's a very serious decision to change our Constitution."
Mr Dutton said his major queries were over how the advisory body would be composed, how it would function on a regional basis and how it would tackle issues in the most remote areas.
The prime minister hit back at Mr Dutton's comments, labelling his attacks "cheap culture war stunts" in a Twitter post on Sunday. He also said he had not yet seen Mr Dutton's letter that had been shared with media outlets.
Professor Megan Davis is one of the authors of the — in which the Voice was proposed — and co-chair of the Uluru Dialogue.
She said community members across the country were working to finalise the "appropriate amount of detail this is required for an informed vote", which would be issued before the referendum.
"The Uluṟu Statement was issued to the Australian people because this is a peoples movement and we knew that politicians could not lead this discussion," Professor Davis said in a statement on Sunday.
Professor Megan Davis. Source: AAP
The Voice would be an advisory body comprised of and chosen by First Nations people to provide advice to the federal government on policies affecting Indigenous people, but it would not have veto power over parliamentary decisions.
The government has said it will kick start its 'Yes' campaign on 20 February with a "week of action" including door-knocking and community events to promote dialogue about the issue.
Legislation for the referendum, which is is likely to be introduced to parliament in March.
It is all but certain to pass the lower house where the government has a majority, but the Bill would need the support of 13 of the 18-member crossbench in the Senate if the Opposition decides to oppose it.
Mr Dutton's comments come as the Liberal party seeks to determine its position on the Voice, after Coalition partners .
