Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party, Shadow Minister for Trade and Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak about the mishandling by the government of a few issues. I want to start with the mishandling they've done of the Voice. I get up very humbly to speak about this. I don't get up to yell about this. I don't get up to be overly loud about this. I'm happy to explain in a little while why I am voting no. I have some very real concerns about the constitutional impacts of the Voice being recognised in the Constitution, and I'll get to that in a minute. But what I'm really sad about is—and I really don't see how the minister or anyone opposite can argue against this—that we are going to be, for the next four weeks, and on the morning of the result of the Voice referendum, a divided nation. We are being divided on an issue that we didn't have to be divided on. The referendum question didn't have to be worded like this. It has been ill worded and it has been ill conceived. I think we can all talk from personal experience of conversations that we've had with colleagues, friends and family members, and it has divided us. I think that is an exceptionally sad place for us to be. I think it's dividing us, too, on an issue that is really unfortunate, as we continue our story of reconciliation and we continue our story of closing the gap. It's been a great mishandling by the Prime Minister. He's had a tin ear about the thing the whole way.

I will just touch on what my concerns are. I'm not going to yell them in a derogatory way. I have real concerns that the power of the Voice will be decided by the High Court, not the parliament. I have real concerns about that.

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