Opposition leader Peter Dutton. Photo: AFP photo / Australian Defence Force
By political reporter Jake Evans
Opponents to the Voice to Parliament have doubled down on a claim it will "re-racialise" Australia, despite a warning from the race discrimination commissioner not to make race the focus of debate.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton said in a speech to parliament the advisory body would "re-racialise our nation" and create an Orwellian system where some Australians were "more equal than others".
The speech was decried by Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney as misinformation and scare-mongering.
Now race discrimination commissioner Chin Tan has urged for a cool down in debate on the Voice, saying if race became the focus of debate it would give confidence to some people "to embark on a journey which they ought not to".
"For [the Human Rights Commission] the Voice is not about race," Tan told the ABC.
"It's about participation, it's about equity, it's about elevating the position of First Nations' people.
"It is about a well-deserved and a well-canvassed position and a journey we have travelled for a long time about finding a way out and moving forward to support our Indigenous peoples."
The referendum will ask Australians whether Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples should be recognised in the constitution as the First Peoples' of Australia, and whether to enshrine in the constitution an Indigenous advisory body able to make representations to the parliament and executive government.
'No' campaigners double down on re-racialisation claim
Dutton said it was important for debate to remain respectful.
"Racial abuse of any nature is not acceptable, but we should point out there is a rising level of frustration, I think is the best way to put it, from Australians who want to understand what it is the prime minister is proposing in the Voice," Dutton said.
"I believe very strongly in constitutional recognition.
"But there's not overwhelming support for the Voice, and it's a bridge too far, because we don't know the detail and we don't know that it's going to provide the practical outcomes for Indigenous Australians that we all burn for."
Asked about Tan's warning on the Voice, Liberal frontbencher James Paterson asserted the Yes campaign was trying to treat Australians differently.
"Now you could say it is on the basis of their race, or if you prefer you could say it is based on their heritage, or their ancestry, or their ethnicity, or their indigeneity," senator Paterson said.
"But either way what we are doing is putting into our constitution something that treats people differently because of a characteristic over which they have no control.
"I think that is offensive to liberal principles, we are all human beings, we are all Australian and we should be treated equally before the law and before the constitution as well."
But senator Paterson agreed that the tone must remain respectful, and that it was incumbent on both sides of the debate to ensure that.
"No matter what the result is, whenever the vote is held later this year, afterwards as Australians we have to coexist peacefully," he said.
Indigenous businessman and former Liberal candidate Warren Mundine said Dutton's claim the Voice would "re-racialise" Australia was "spot on".
"He is right, this is really starting to get into a disgraceful campaign, and the campaign hasn't even started yet," Mundine said.
- ABC
