This photo looks like a resounding yes to the vote to parliament – here’s why it isn’t
- House of Representatives supports constitutional amendment bill
- Approval paves the way for a referendum on the vote to parliament
- Do you have a political tip? Email brittany.chain@mailonline.com
Politicians this morning cast their vote on a bill that would allow the Voice to Parliament referendum to take place later this year.
The constitutional amendment bill passed the House of Representatives by a huge majority of 121 to 25, and onlookers might have thought that after months of opposition to the bill, Liberal MPs had changed their tune.
Photos from inside the House during the distribution show 25 No voters taking up less than two rows, while Yes voters crowd the other side.
However, the Liberal party has not softened its stance on The Voice, with opposition leader Peter Dutton saying his party would not stand in the way of giving the Australian public the right to vote in the referendum.
A handful of Liberal MPs were elected to oppose the bill — allowing them and only them to officially contribute to the No campaign’s pamphlet — while the rest voted Yes to ensure it passed the Senate.
National MPs all voted no.
Astute onlookers would be forgiven for thinking Liberal MPs had changed their tune after months of staunchly opposing the proposal
Ms Ley made an impassioned speech in Parliament in response to Mr Albanese’s ‘Chicken Littles’ sleigh on Monday
The bill will make its way to the Senate within two weeks after the impeachment hearings are completed.
Only those MPs who voted against the constitutional amendment bill will be allowed to work on the no essay which will be included in an official referendum pamphlet which will be sent to every Australian home at least two weeks before the vote.
The pamphlet contains two essays of up to 2000 words advocating the arguments for and against the Voice to Parliament.
The Voice to Parliament debate has gripped the House for nearly two weeks, with 90 speakers willing to express their views.
Labour’s message is that a voice ‘from the heart’ gives Indigenous Australians an equal footing and an opportunity to provide input on issues that directly affect their lives.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has long said it is a ‘modest’ request from the Australian public, noting that he feels a personal responsibility to fulfill his pledge to the Indigenous communities who have ‘waited so long’.
But he has been criticized along the way for his divisive language towards No voters and members of the public and parliament who are still on the fence.
Sussan Ley, deputy leader of the Liberals, the party’s top female politician, accused him on Tuesday of “going down to the gutter” with “deplorable” remarks directed at Australians planning to take No.
After weeks of mudslinging the Voice, Ms. Ley drew a line in the sand and said, “People of good will cannot agree.”
She assured the audience that it’s okay to vote “no,” just as it’s okay to vote yes.
“Regardless of whether Yes narrowly wins or loses, millions of Australians will vote No,” she said.
“They deserve better than their Prime Minister referring to them as ‘morticians preparing the grave to bury Uluru’, ‘Chicken Littles’ or anything with such deplorable connotations.”
Ms Ley also criticized Mr Albanese for ‘refusing to give details’ about the goings-on of The Voice, and ‘going down the low road and throwing insults instead’.
“There is a special obligation on the prime minister to keep this debate respectful, because if he keeps going down the gutter, how on earth can he lecture anyone else about evil into joining him there?”
The Albanian government has maintained that amending the constitution is the form of recognition requested by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders in the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart