Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

The position that the government has taken and that I've expressed is that we do not support entrenching in the Constitution a national representative assembly that only Indigenous Australians can vote for or be elected to. We take the view that every one of our national elected representative institutions should be open to every Australian citizen. We believe that is a fundamental part of our democracy and the rule of law.

The reality is that if the policy that the opposition has now adopted were to be carried out, if that referendum proposal were to be put up and if it were to succeed—and I have no doubt that it would fail—that national representative assembly, elected by and composed only of Indigenous Australians as an advisor to this parliament on matters affecting Indigenous Australians, would constitute, in effect, a third chamber of this parliament.

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