Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Why is the Prime Minister only releasing Voice legislation after Australians have voted? Why does the Prime Minister continue to be deceptive and not provide the information that millions of Australians are asking for?

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

I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A straight answer would be good.

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

The Leader of the Opposition has asked his question.

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

Yet again, the Leader of the Opposition confirms that those opposite have walked completely away from even pretending they're concerned about cost-of-living issues. As Chris Kenny so eloquently said when speaking about the legislation to do with the Voice—he pointed this out, as I have—'the coalition attack is undermined by its own commitment to legislate a voice.' Undermined—that is their commitment to legislate a voice. They were in government for three terms, and for most of that term they were talking about a voice. Indeed, Ken Wyatt, the former Minister for Indigenous Australians—

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

The Prime Minister will pause. The Leader of the Opposition on a point of order.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On relevance, we're being respectful to the Prime Minister, but, instead of hearing about what everybody else has to say, can the Australian public hear a straight answer from their Prime Minister as to what he thinks—

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

Resume your seat. On the point of order, the question was about legislation, but it ended with a 'why is' and an allegation about the Prime Minister being deceptive. The Prime Minister is answering that part of the question, but I'm listening carefully to his answer.

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

They need to coordinate their discussions about this, maybe in their tactics committee, because the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, just a very short period of time ago, on the 23 July, said this about legislation: 'All legislation requires exposure drafts. It requires conversations. It requires debate. It will include all the things that actually produce good legislation at the end of the process, and that's what I want to see.' That's what his deputy said not last year but last month—just a fortnight ago. That's what the Deputy Leader of the Opposition had to say. They are simply not being fair dinkum. The conspiracy theories are colliding with each other.

If they think the Voice is a bad idea, why are they going to legislate it? If they think they have the right idea for the structure of the Voice, why aren't they tabling their legislation—or why didn't they—over all that period? Of course, Ken Wyatt, the former minister for Indigenous Australians and, indeed, the former member of the Liberal Party, had this to say. He said that he took the Calma-Langton work to the cabinet, which the Leader of the Opposition was in, not once but twice, but nothing happened. The fact is that the Leader of the Opposition thought that saying sorry would be the end of the world. Now he thinks listening to the people will be the end of democracy.

This is an opportunity to lift the country up, and I urge Australians to vote 'yes' in the last quarter of this year. (Time expired)