The Canberra Voice hey?
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It feels quite retro and not nice.
Peter Dutton has confirmed - after a two and a half hour meeting - what virtually everyone was expecting. The Liberal Party will oppose the Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
"The Prime Minister is dividing our country. And the Liberal party seeks to unite our country," he said. Meantime, backbenchers won't be bound by this decision.
What took them so long?
Mr Dutton and Liberal Deputy Leader Sussan Ley say they back constitutional recognition of First Nations people. And well they should, as it has been long-standing Coalition policy.
It is also a "yes" to local and regional Voices. A proposition from the Calma-Langton process. An idea thrown back into the ring by the Liberals after significant progression on the wording and general debate.
And it is a "yes" to the people having their say.
But, it is a "no" to the "Prime Minister's Canberra Voice".
"You don't get a blank check on the constitution, but that's what this Prime Minister is demanding," Ms Ley said.
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The Canberra Voice must live on the other side of a roundabout to the Canberra Bubble.
"A pretty cheap shot really, which diminishes the extraordinary amount of work done particularly by Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander people," the Prime Minister later said.
It is a landmark day for the Voice proposal and for a Liberal Party still reeling from the Aston byelection loss.
This is Peter Dutton's big stand. A leadership test, but would he really win if the Voice referendum fails?
![Opposition Leader Peter Dutton. Picture by Keegan Carroll
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton. Picture by Keegan Carroll](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/128375134/7bc73588-6405-44dc-8f33-1609e0900e98.jpg/r0_360_6000_3747_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
All hope of bipartisanship is now gone. Australia's two major parties stand opposed over the future of First Nations representation. Just as remote communities cry out for help and as the Closing the Gap measurements remain a stubborn national disgrace.
There are now big questions about what will happen to the Voice if the popular vote is successful.
The Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney regards this official position as "clear as mud", all about politics and not taking Australia forward. And she has accused the opposition leader of having an "obsession" with the Prime Minister.
She also insists regional and local Voices will be heard. "There has been much progress," she said.
Despite the internal division on this issue, the Liberal and National parties are now actively seeking your vote to sink the Voice.