OK Peter Dutton ... let's have a good hard look at 'the Prime Minister's Canberra Voice'

Maybe it is just that "here we go again" feeling.

Peter Dutton's push back on the Voice appears political, no matter the claims of wanting better practical outcomes for Indigenous Australians.

The Opposition Leader is dealing with a party out of favour across the Australian mainland and a divided party room that tips more conservatively than the rest of the nation. His protests about the Voice misrepresent the long in the works proposal and show him trying to use tactics that have been successful elsewhere.

Let's start with "the Prime Minister's Canberra Voice."

It's not.

Let's not labour this. The path to constitutional recognition began well before Anthony Albanese. It found little air during the past couple of Coalition terms. Mr Albanese is advancing the proposal. He is very invested in it and the implications of the referendum passing (or not) will very likely impact somehow on his leadership.

They both want to be winners, Mr Dutton and Mr Albanese, but it is not the Prime Minister's Voice.

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To the other bit. And we are about to get started on people unable or unwilling to draw a clear distinction between Parliament House and Canberra.

The point of the Voice is that it is not a Canberra Voice.

"The Uluru Statement came from regional dialogues - with the input of over a thousand First Nations people across the country," Minister Linda Burney insisted on Thursday.

"The Voice will make sure that voices in remote and regional communities are heard."

It could be, simplistically, a Voice TO Canberra, but it is not. It is, plainly, a Voice to Parliament.

Co-chair of the Uluru Dialogue Pat Anderson regards the Liberal decision as a vote for business as usual. "It is a vote for the domination of Canberra politicians and Canberra bureaucrats in the lives of grassroots communities," she said.

Yet, Canberra is used as a slur and "another layer of bureaucracy" is being used as a scare tactic. The US version is "drain the swamp". Think back (not too far) to Tony Abbott's "Carbon Tax" weapon.

Liberals who are hoping for federal representation in Canberra sometime in the future can't be thrilled, but of course it is about elsewhere - in particular Queensland which is more on the fence about the Voice according to the latest Newspoll. The Queensland LNP is Mr Dutton's home base and there is significant Queensland representation in the party room.

And let's get to the tactics of saying no virtually all the time. The opposition does not have a blanket rule but it seems like they do. It worked like a charm for Mr Abbott a decade ago, but the electorate is changing.

As well, there is the politics of throwing up too much detail over a referendum to confuse the public. That certainly worked for John Howard in 1999. The discussion is baffling for concerted political watchers, when the answer will end up being "yes" or "no".

It is hard to see how this will all land at the next election, but the Voice is calling this year. The heft and patience of more than a thousand First Nations people is converging over the popular vote and they see this as the only end to business as usual.

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