Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Women) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Every single person in this country wants to see better outcomes for Indigenous Australians. There is no moral high ground and no monopoly on good intentions. Australians have made it clear over many decades that there are no blank cheques on constitutional reform. Will the Prime Minister release all advice from the Solicitor-General and any other legal advisers on the Voice so that Australians can fully understand all of the implications of the proposed change?

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

ALBANESE (—) (): I thank the member for her question. I certainly agree with the statement that Australians want to close the gap, and Australians want reconciliation to be advanced. I'm asked about legal opinion. The government's position on cabinet papers is the same as that of the former government. A range of legal opinion has been put forward and words have been put forward. I want to make this point—

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Members on my left. The member for New England.

The member for Macnamara will cease interjecting immediately.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to go to where these words that will be put to the Australian people have come from. The 'con con' alliance developed a proposal in 2014—see if it sounds familiar—proposing a new chapter of the Constitution. It said this:

There shall be an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander body, to be called the [insert appropriate name, perhaps drawn from an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander language], which shall have the function of providing advice to the Parliament and the Executive Government on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

It then went on, in clause 2, to say:

The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws with respect to the composition, roles, powers and procedures of the [body].

They were the two key clauses that were put forward in 2014. One of the authors was the shadow Attorney-General, who was a part of that body that was put forward in 2014. He is a lawyer, and the fact is that lawyers, including the member for Berowra and the shadow Attorney-General in this country, have put forward that wording, which has been backed up—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! I will hear from the Deputy Leader of the Opposition on a point of order.

Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Women) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise on a point of order: relevance. I accept that the question—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister for skills will cease interjecting.

Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Women) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I accept that the question was broad but what it did not do was invite the Prime Minister to reflect on the opposition. Every part of the question went to the government's approach about this specific referendum.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question was a long question about legal advice and about the current constitutional reform. The Prime Minister is being relevant, but I will listen carefully to ensure that he is sticking to the question. It was also about outcomes for Indigenous Australians. I give him the call.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I certainly am. The point is this has been more than a decade in the making. The 'con con' alliance included Julian Leeser, Damien Freeman, Marcia Langton, Megan Davis, Greg Craven, Anne Twomey and Noel Pearson. Just as the former Chief Justice of the High Court—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Members on my left. The member for Deakin and the minister for the environment will cease interjecting immediately or be warned. The Prime Minister has 30 seconds.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Speaker. The former Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, Justice French, made his views very clear in an article in the Financial Review on Saturday, as has Anne Twomey, the leading constitutional academic in this country, as has the shadow Attorney-General in terms of the words that have been put forward by the shadow Attorney-General. It is as simple as that, and I can't understand how that is controversial. (Time expired)