The Indigenous leader said the former PM was right about the Voice being “a mistake from the start” and that a legislated body should have been established before a referendum.
“Paul Keating was right,” she said. “We should have proceeded to legislate the Voice concept of regional Indigenous representation and joint decision-making before a referendum.”
Professor Langton’s comments mark the first time someone from the Yes camp in the referendum has publicly declared their doubts about pursuing recognition. “Keating’s proposal for ‘a legislated representative Indigenous body to advise on Indigenous issues but which, unlike the former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, would not have a budget to run’ is the Voice,” she said.Mr Keating said he “never actually believed in the constitutional route to some sort of black sovereignty”, and cited a letter he wrote to both women in 2016 about a book of essays they had compiled on constitutional recognition.
“This does not mean that we should castigate ourselves for trying to achieve what the majority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people wanted.Advertisement