Tony Abbott unleashes about Anthony Albanese’s Voice to Parliament: ‘It reinforces the separatism’

Tony Abbott has questioned why Aboriginal Australians should be given a ‘special voice’ as he argues the real agenda is not simply recognition, but ‘about power’.

The former prime minister, a member of the advisory board of the lobby group Advance Australia, has accused The Voice of dividing Australia on race.

‘Well, I’m in favor of recognition, but this is not recognition. This is about power.

“And my problem with The Voice, as it stands now and as it will be presented to the people, is that it enshrines race in our constitution first and foremost.

“Second, it reinforces the separatism that I think is at the heart of the indigenous backwardness.

“And third, it sucks up our system of government even more.

The outspoken No campaigner appeared on the 7:30 am ABC report to discuss his concerns with the independent advisory with host Sarah Ferguson.

“I don’t see why any particular group of Australians, however much they are respected, should have their own special voice vis-à-vis government and parliament, in addition to the voice every other Australian gets,” he said.

“So my point is, why are we single out the first Australians for this special vote, given that I want all Australians to move forward together as one country, where there is no privilege of origin, no hierarchy of origin.”

Ferguson asked Mr Abbott, “But isn’t this unequal treatment of Indigenous people a fact of life in Australia since the first settlement?”

“I’m not saying we’re right,” he replied.

“I don’t say that for a second, but I don’t think you could say that, at least lately, there’s been any lack of goodwill, any lack of generosity of spirit, and certainly any lack of generosity of funding. ‘

Ferguson reminded Mr Abbott that he had previously campaigned to make indigenous people less dependent on state welfare.

“Isn’t the Voice a unique opportunity for the kind of self-reliance you’ve been advocating for years?” she asked.

Mr Abbott said he disagreed with the assumption that separate standards applied to Indigenous children, adults and communities.

“I think The Voice is more of a failure, frankly, than a fresh start and I think part of the problem, as I said at the beginning, is this sense of separatism.”

Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney (centre) said she hopes a Voice to Parliament will address the ‘systemic and structural deprivation’ of Indigenous Australians

Mr Abbott accused the Voice to Parliament of forcing all Aboriginal Australians to be ‘unanimous on everything’.

“In that case, it almost becomes a separate indigenous parliament and we don’t need a separate indigenous chamber or parliament in our system at the moment,” he said.

“I think it will be a very, very big constitutional amendment. By far the biggest constitutional change we’ve ever been asked to do, and I think it’s wrong in principle.”

Ferguson asked why Abbott thought he knew better than the 1,200 Aboriginal Australians who had participated in the Uluru Dialogues over a number of years.

The 12 dialogues and a regional meeting resulted in the Uluru Statement from the Heart and a recommendation from an advisory body in the Australian Parliament.

“Ultimately, Sarah, the Constitution belongs to all of us,” Abbott said.

“It’s not just from indigenous peoples.

“It belongs to all of us and so any amendment to properly recognize Indigenous Australians – which is a very desirable goal – should be something we can all own and have all contributed to.”