Opposition leader Peter Dutton is digging in on his opposition to an Indigenous Voice to Parliament during a visit to Alice Springs on Wednesday, where he again called on the government to take urgent action on theft and sexual assault in the community.
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It comes as Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney stood next to her ministerial predecessor and now former Liberal Ken Wyatt to state that her door was always open to anyone that wished to make a contribution on the advancement of the Voice proposal.
For Ms Burney that includes Julian Leeser, who sensationally resigned from the Liberal frontbench on Tuesday over this position on the Voice.
Proponents of the Voice say the proposed body will help close the gap, but the Opposition Leader said he is yet to be convinced that it would have practical outcomes for Indigenous communities in remote and regional areas.
In Alice Springs, Mr Dutton said the community needed "assistance on the ground here to restore law and order".
"Canberra is a million miles away and I'd say to the Prime Minister, to Linda Burney, to any of the government ministers, to come here, roll up your sleeves and listen to what people are saying here on the streets because it is alarming and it's very concerning," he said.
Mr Dutton said "nothing has changed" from his last visit in October.
"Same stories about break-ins, about stolen cars, about risk to human life, about the sexual assault of young boys and girls," he said.
![Opposition Leader Peter Dutton. Picture by Sitthixay Ditthavong Opposition Leader Peter Dutton. Picture by Sitthixay Ditthavong](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/209641672/10a390f5-a5e9-4e34-a3f0-71e3fb514c39.jpg/r0_187_3744_2305_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"It's still exactly as it was then. And this community can't wait."
Mr Dutton's Alice Springs visit comes a day after Mr Leeser announced he would be moving to the backbench to campaign for a "yes" vote.
Coalition frontbench members have insisted his move was due to his unique position in contributing to the pathway towards constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians. But Liberal Member for Bass and "yes" campaigner Bridget Archer regards the move as opening the door for constitutional conservatives to consider voting for the Voice.
Leading Liberal party moderate Simon Birmingham told Sky News said he had no intention of leaving the frontbench but he also wasn't planning to campaign against the Voice.
Mr Leeser's resignation from the frontbench follows Mr Wyatt's departure from the Liberal party last week.
Speaking to reporters with Ms Burney on Wednesday, Mr Wyatt said he hoped more of his former colleagues would come to back the Voice.
"What we should do is allow my former colleagues to work through the issues and make their own decisions," he said.
"I think Peter Dutton will give them a conscience vote and they will then express the way they want to vote. But I do hope that many more come across."
Mr Wyatt said the Voice was "an important step to change".
"And it is a change, as I've said earlier, for our grandchildren, because if we maintain the status quo, then nothing will change," he said.
Mr Leeser on Tuesday said he supported the Voice but would be campaigning for changes to the government model, including for the removal of a clause that would allow the Voice to advise executive government.
Ms Burney, in Perth on Wednesday, told reporters there was an inquiry underway where everyone was able to have a say on the wording but stressed that the current wording "hasn't come out of thin air".
"The reason why executive government was important particularly to the working group is that many decisions that are made in government are made by senior bureaucrats," she said.
"We have taken advice constantly from an expert legal group, including ex-High Court judges, constitutional lawyers, and it is our belief that the words that are there now are words that are not going to attract some of the alarmist statements that we've heard from constitutional conservatives."
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Ms Burney said she would continue to have "a very open door" to Mr Leeser and others who wanted to "make a contribution".