Peter Dutton tells Anthony Albanese to call off Voice to Parliament referendum

Peter Dutton has sensationally called on the Prime Minister to cancel the Voice to Parliament referendum.

The constitutional amendment bill was passed this week, paving the way for a referendum to determine whether to include the vote in our constitution.

But the opposition leader suggested that the ‘vote goes down’ and said Anthony Albanese should cut his losses and stop putting the question to the public.

“Frankly, I think the Prime Minister is at a point where if he realizes the vote is dropping – which is what all the polls are saying at the moment – he needs to make a decision that is in the best interest of our country,” he said. Dutton said. told 2 GB.

“(Mr. Abanese should) say, ‘Look, I’m going to call it off because it’s just going to split the country in half.'”

Mr Dutton questioned whether campaigning for a vote in parliament was the best use of government time amid a crippling cost-of-living crisis.

‘[People] can’t pay their mortgages, and you let the government indulge in this Voice stuff and these other agendas that don’t deliver national unity.’

Interest rates are at an 11-year high of 4.1 percent, with monthly variable mortgage payments already 62 percent higher than just over a year ago.

Westpac, NAB and ANZ expect two more rate hikes that would take the spot rate to a 12-year high of 4.6 percent, up from an 11-year high of 4.1 percent now.

AMP chief economist Shane Oliver has said rate hikes could plunge Australia into recession in 2023 or 2024.

Mr Dutton said the prime minister should make an appeal ‘in the interest of the country’ to avoid ‘dividing the country in half’ at a time when so many people are already struggling.

He said Mr Albanese could instead focus on other ways of “providing practical support and attention to Indigenous Australians”.

Mr Albanese has assured the public that his vision is a ‘modest’ request that will have little impact on the lives of most Australians but would be fundamental in bringing hope to First Nations people.

The prime minister said Australians will have a ‘once-in-a-lifetime opportunity’ to improve the lives of First Nations people in the referendum, which will be held between October and December.

“Where’s the downside here?” he asked. “What are people risking here? From my perspective, this is all positive.’

After years of doing things ‘for’ Aboriginal people, often with the best of intentions, the Prime Minister said a Voice to Parliament would empower Indigenous people to take the lead on issues that matter to them.

The coalition has repeatedly called on the government to define exactly what that means.

Attorney General Mark Dreyfus tried to clear up that confusion at a news conference the day the bill passed the Senate.

He listed five key themes that will become the focus of the advisory group’s attention: health, employment, education, housing and justice.

“This referendum can do no harm, only good,” he said. “Parliament has done its job and now it’s up to the Australian people.”