Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s decision to push forward with the referendum without bipartisanship has been blasted by Voice co-design group member Father Frank Brennan.
Only eight of Australia’s 45 referendums in history have passed while no referendum has passed in the country without the support of both major parties.
The Jesuit priest quoted words from an unnamed Labor minister who told him referendums should only take place in a “crisis” or when there is an “absolute consensus” to demonstrate his frustration that the push for the Voice continued without total backing as the Liberal Party also had a history of avoiding the idea of a Voice.
“There was never any consensus on this, never went with the idea of the Voice, neither did Abbott, neither did Turnbull, neither did Morrison – so there was never bipartisanship," he told Sky News Australia host Kieran Gilbert. “We can all understand that Aboriginal leaders with the publication of this letter are very angry and upset but I think we have to accept that it’s simply a given – it doesn’t matter on the topic of the referendum – if you do not have bipartisanship, there’s just no point…and to draw all sorts of other conclusions might not be all together warranted.”
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