Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On 14 October, Australians are going to have their say on Labor's Voice, and will need to choose if they enshrine this divisive institution into our Constitution. It's time for Australians to decide on what they value in their democracy. Since the founding fathers wrote our Constitution, it's been the foundation of a stable and thriving democracy. However, if the Voice succeeds it will be a major change, providing powers to one race over every other. If it passes it will then be up to this Labor government and the Greens to determine how it will work and how much power it will have. They will have a blank cheque. The government has decided not to tell Australians the full detail, purely relying on the appeal to the emotion for a 'yes' vote.

There is absolutely no substance to this proposal, and it's causing division, sadly, across the country. The Voice has simply been about the government appeasing elite activist forces and not even considering or consulting with those that they aim to help. From day 1, this government has been about exercising its ideological obsessions rather than governing for its people. They rammed through radical IR laws, slashed the cashless debit card and banned live exports—all the while doing nothing to support Australians to make ends meet.

I'll be saying no on 14 October, and I will join you in sending a strong message to Labor that this is no way to govern a country. The voice is risky and divisive, and, if you don't know, say no.