Alex Antic (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I've listened to senators taking note of answers and I wish to take note of the same issue, regarding the powers of the Voice. There are some interesting things developing out of this. Very early on Saturday morning, we heard questions from Senator Cash to Senator Watt about the Voice, including, 'Will the Voice have the freedom to determine the issues upon which it makes representations?' Senator Watt replied, 'Yes, it will.' We were confronted yesterday with Minister Burney in the House telling us something quite different when she said:

I can tell you what the Voice will not be giving advice on. It won't be giving advice on parking tickets. It won't be giving advice on changing Australia Day.

So we've got extraordinary confusion with this extraordinarily critical piece of legislation and the referendum. It's something that is going to change our Constitution, and yet once again we have absolutely no clarity from the government in relation to what its powers will be, what it will do, where the line will be and what it will stop. I think, if nothing else, this speaks volumes for where we're up to.

Back when the original Constitution was being debated, the drafters of the Constitution held constitutional conventions which went for hours upon days upon weeks. The document was thrashed out. What we're being told to do here is: 'Trust us on this document. Trust us that it's all going to be alright. It's all about the vibe.' If Labor are so confident about the things the Voice will not do, then why is it that they can't answer basic questions about what it will do? Minister Burney's response yesterday did nothing more than highlight the confusion that the Australian people rightly have in relation to what is being put to us. I suspect the Australian people are aware of that and I suspect the Australian people are too clever for this.

Senator O'Neill said earlier that she was alarmed by a culture of fear that had enveloped this side of the chamber. I'll tell you what—I am very fearful about what this document is going to do. I am very fearful about what this referendum means for the future of Australia. If you go back probably 18 months, I was very quick out of the blocks in relation to this. I said very early, from the beginning, and I said publicly, that I had no time or support for anything which would divide Australians based on race—or divide Australians in any event but certainly based on race. So I am absolutely fearful about where this will go.

The events of the last couple of days have drawn our attention to this character, Thomas Mayo. It's interesting how many members of the government now say what Senator O'Neill said—'I haven't met him.' I think we're going to see increasingly large numbers of them coming out. Seriously, I don't think anyone has met him at the moment! There seem to be photos of him everywhere, but no-one has ever met him. He's like the phantom. He's like the Scarlet Pimpernel! Well, I'll tell you what—if you want real insight into what the Voice is about, have a listen to Thomas. Have a listen to Mr Mayo because he's telling us all about it. He has been captured doing it and he has been caught out. The Australian people are going to understand more and more and more about this guy. If you want to understand the Voice, have a look at this guy. He's a self-described militant who sits on Prime Minister Albanese's own referendum working group, which was responsible for drafting and signing the activist document known as the Uluru Statement. This is the man who said that the Voice was 'a campaign tool to "punish politicians", "abolish colonialist institutions" and'—for those playing at home—'"pay the rent"'. I don't want to pay the rent. It is hardly a modest unifying proposition in anyone's language.

This is unequivocally a very big deal. The Australian people are not to be deterred on this. They're not to have the wool pulled over their eyes. They will work this out. They will understand that. The confusion we've seen around what was said here in the early hours of the morning on Saturday by contrast to what was said yesterday in the House will do nothing to dissuade the Australian people from thinking that this is a very, very bad idea and this is not a very modest proposition. I, for one, have the greatest hope—there is a lot of talk about a culture of fear, but I've got hope as well—that Australians will work this out, they will understand that this is a precursor to further division in this country and that we are all Australians. We are all united under the one flag. That includes Australia Day by the way. That includes all of our Aboriginal Indigenous friends. (Time expired)

Question agreed to.