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• Greens expected to support Indigenous voice to parliament after Lidia Thorpe quits party
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At the same time, Tony Burke was speaking to Patricia Karvelas on ABC radio RN about the referendum machineries legislation which, has to go through the parliament to enable the voice vote.

Burke:

So the machinery, there’s two different bits that have to go through the parliament. The first is updating the referendum laws themselves. That’s been introduced to the parliament. There’s a committee that’s looking at it now. And so it’s sort of sitting in the House of Representatives issued report in the next couple of weeks and, and then the mission that part of it will go through, then you deal with the second bill a bit later in the year. So in the probably the second quarter of the year. And that’s the bill that has the question, and the specific word for word changes that would go into the constitution, that one has to be passed by an absolute majority of each house of the parliament. And once that’s happened, then the deadlines as to when the vote will happen are all locked in.

I gotta say, I can’t think of any referendum proposal where there has been more process than this.

Let’s go back to first principles. What is the Voice? The Voice is constitutional recognition of our First Nations people to ensure they have a say. I think it’s a pretty good thing for people to have a say in matters that affect them. It’s one of the ways that we can ensure we improve not only our nation, but also the aspirations and opportunities for our First Nations peoples. I was really pleased to see, while I was away, that all First Ministers, Liberal and Labor, have backed in the Voice. It shows what you can do when you take the politics out of it.

I think the Voice will have a say in matters that affect First Nations people. But I think the point here is - why are some people so concerned about that?

Well, do you think people having a say is a problem, Michael? (the host)

That’s the implication in your question. I mean, we have years of disadvantage, years of... ..so many broken hopes. And we can be so much stronger as a nation. We can become much more unified. And the First Ministers, Premiers and Chief Ministers have demonstrated that. We want to walk down this path together. It’s not about “gotcha” moments. It’s not about tricky questions and answers. It’s about the nation coming together and saying, “Yes, we will take the outstretched hand which is the Uluru Statement from the Heart.” “We will recognise our First Nations people. We will give them a say. And we will work through the detail of that together.” And that’s a good thing.