Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has contradicted Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney and declared the Voice will “of course” be able to advise on changing the date of Australia Day.
Ms Burney was grilled by Coalition MPs in Question Time this week over the Voice’s exact remit and whether or not it would be able to advise the parliament and executive government on issues such as national defence and interest rates.
Controversy struck after it was revealed her statements were in contrast to beliefs held by some of the handpicked members of the government’s First Nation’s Referendum Working Group. “In practical terms the Voice will be able to express its opinion on just about any public policy issue, because every one of them, one way or the other, impacts on indigenous Australians,” Mr Turnbull said.
Mr Turnbull said the Voice’s representations would only improve the value of debate on issues which did in fact directly affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Mr Turnbull was prime minister when the Voice to Parliament was first conceptualised in the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
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