Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

As I say, it's not the government's intention to make this divisive. Senator Nampijinpa Price said that supporters of the Voice were accusing opponents of being racist. The implication, certainly, was that members of the government were doing that, which is not correct, and I note she was unable to back it up. When asked to provide a name, she singled out Marcia Langton. I'm certainly not aware of any comment to that effect that Marcia Langton has made on the public record, and it might be a good idea for the senator to withdraw that accusation. I don't think it helps to be besmirching people, whether it be Marcia Langton, Bruce Pascoe, Noel Pearson or any of the others that the senator has besmirched in this debate.

This bill is about recognising our First Peoples in our Constitution through the creation of a voice to parliament so that they can have some say, through advice and representations, over matters that directly affect them. If people are concerned about this being a divisive debate, well, they have every opportunity to think about their behaviour. All of us have an opportunity to think about our behaviour in this. If people choose to run around, spread misinformation and misrepresent what this is about, then I would suggest that that's pretty divisive behaviour, and that's certainly not what this government is going to be doing.

This is not just a politicians' thing. We are seeing many members of the Australian community get behind this—not everyone; I understand that. Every single state and territory leader in Australia supports the voice, including Tasmanian Liberal Premier Mr Rockliff and former Liberal Premier of New South Wales Mr Perrottet. The AFL, the NRL, Cricket Australia, the ARU, the business community, unions and faith groups are backing the 'yes' campaign. Faith groups are backing 'yes'. Unions and the business community are backing 'yes'. But, ultimately, this is a decision for the Australian people. We'll certainly be approaching it in a positive spirit with the aim of bringing the country together, and I encourage those opposite to do the same.