Subjects: Visit to North West Tasmania; the Prime Minister’s divisive Voice, Treaty, Truth proposal.
E&OE
LEIGH KENWORTHY:
We’ve got a special guest with me, Federal Liberal Leader of the Opposition Mr Peter Dutton has joined me right here, right now.
Thanks for your time Mr Dutton.
PETER DUTTON:
Morning Leigh. A pleasure.
LEIGH KENWORTHY:
It’s been a big 24 hours for you. You’ve jetted down here to Tasmania, and what’s the purpose of your stay today here on the North West coast.
PETER DUTTON:
Well Leigh, a couple of things. Obviously great to be back in Tassie catching up with Gavin Pearce today, just to talk to him about some of the local issues, particularly cost of living. A lot of families really struggling at the moment: petrol’s back up and obviously with what we’re seeing tragically in the Middle East at the moment, the prospect of petrol prices going higher and the Reserve Bank’s warned about this leading into interest rate increases. So, there’s that issue to discuss.
We’re also off to Elliott as well to the dairy research facility there, to have a look at some of the work they’re doing and how they’re providing support to a very important industry.
LEIGH KENWORTHY:
You’ve got a pretty busy book for the next few hours.
PETER DUTTON:
It will be busy mate, and then we’re off to South Australia, in I suppose the last week of the campaign in the run up to Saturday. Very important messages and very important considerations and decisions for people to make in relation to the Voice – less than a week to go.
LEIGH KENWORTHY:
Five sleeps ahead of D-Day. That Voice of Parliament Referendum on Saturday, and we’ve already learnt that 2.2 million Australians have already casted their vote.
PETER DUTTON:
They want to just get it out of the way. They don’t want to line up, not interested in the sausage on Saturday morning, so they’ve made up their mind, I think and a lot of Australians are in that position, Leigh, because I think they’ve been holding off as long as I can for the information, for the detail to be provided. Clearly the PM’s made a decision not to give the detail.
In fact, the design of the Voice doesn’t start until next Monday. It’s a six month process, and it’s very strange and without precedent really that you would ask people to vote to put a new chapter into our nation’s rulebook. It’s an unprecedented ask – so it’s the biggest change proposed to our Constitution – and we don’t have the detail that people reasonably are asking for.
LEIGH KENWORTHY:
What are your thoughts on those that have decided to vote ‘no’ because they don’t understand the detail? But we heard yesterday, the former Prime Minister of this country, Malcolm Turnbull, say if you’re not aware or you’re not sure, then there’s options out there to simply ask.
PETER DUTTON:
Well Malcolm of course called the Voice a ‘third chamber’ when he was Prime Minister and had a look at this in great detail. He’s changed his position and that’s his right to do so, but I don’t think millions of Australians are going to be influenced by what former Prime Ministers, or singers, or former TV stars have to say.
I think they instinctively understand that firstly, we live in the best country in the world and part of the reason is that the Constitution can only be changed by a Referendum and people don’t support it easily. They’re only eight of 44 that have passed, and there’s a double majority required, which I think is a real signal to people that the founding fathers said, ‘don’t change it unless you’re absolutely certain’. There’s so much ambiguity, so much uncertainty and risk, it’s permanent once it goes into the Constitution. A law passed by the Parliament can’t override the Constitution, and I think that’s why millions of Australians are deciding to vote ‘no’.
LEIGH KENWORTHY:
Is it a case of nothing really changes so much if we vote ‘yes’ as far as that, and maybe with those one in four voters that are still undecided, they’re just sticking to the ‘no’ side of the room, so to speak, rather than thinking, ‘well, yes, we’ll give it a ‘yes” or ‘we’ll give it a ‘no” in this case.
PETER DUTTON:
I think they’re good points. Look, my view has been that we should have a respectful debate. We’ve asked for questions to be answered. I wrote to the Prime Minister in a very respectful way in January of this year asking 15 questions on behalf of millions of Australians, and I’ve still not had a reply to that letter. I just find it quite remarkable that the detail is deliberately being withheld from Australians. Why? And I think people are right to ask that question.
I respect people whether they’re voting ‘yes’ or ‘no’, but I do believe that if there is a ‘yes’ vote, we’re not going to see the practical outcomes that we all want in Indigenous communities like Alice Springs. We’re going to see another layer of bureaucracy and the Parliament won’t have the ability to override the Constitution or indeed the High Court’s interpretation of the Voice.
It’s not limited to issues that just affect Indigenous Australians. The wording’s so broad that there’s plenty of legal opinion out there that says the High Court can have an interpretation that will expand the power of the Voice, and I think we want to be very careful about that.
LEIGH KENWORTHY:
Well, according to a recent poll, the ‘yes’ vote’s about, I think 23 per cent of the votes are those that are intending to vote ‘yes’. But I suppose you’re in a position just like a lead up to any election: don’t worry about the polls, let’s just see what it says on Saturday.
PETER DUTTON:
Yeah, I think that’s right mate. As they say, there’s only one poll that accounts, but I do think a lot of Australians at the start – I mean we know that about 65 per cent of Australians instinctively said ‘yes’ when they first heard about the Voice because the concept of listening to Indigenous people is a good one, we support that – but the way in which the Prime Minister’s approached this, the detail – I just don’t think the Prime Minister’s across the detail – and therefore how can the Australian public be across the detail?
There’s obviously a deliberate decision being taken to withhold information from Australians, it’s probably I think an overreaction to what happened in 1999 with the Republican Referendum then, where the argument was that too much detail had been provided.
But ultimately, if you don’t understand it, don’t change the Constitution because it’s not like a law, as I say, that can be deleted by the Parliament, can be amended by the Parliament, once it’s in that Constitution and in a new chapter – don’t forget that that puts it, you know, the same pegging with the High Court. The High Court has its own chapter.
So the Voice will express a view, and I believe very strongly, as many legal experts have said, that given that it’s got its own chapter in the Constitution, the High Court will find that you’d want a good reason to reject the advice of the Voice, and as the Prime Minister himself said, it would be a very, very game government, very brave government that rejected the advice of the Voice.
LEIGH KENWORTHY:
Those listening this morning, if you’re still sitting on the undecided part of the fence, hopefully it helps you there this morning and no doubt rallies and events will be ramping up and intensifying over the next five days or so.
Mr Dutton, thanks for dropping in and having a bit of a chat this morning and enjoy your stay while you’re here for the next few hours with Gavin Pearce our Federal Member for Braddon, and also you’re staying in a beautiful neck of the woods up there at Elliot. You’ve been there before?
PETER DUTTON:
I’ve not been to Elliott, so I’m looking forward to it. The visits are never long enough – we came here for a holiday a few years ag, and we’re overdue – I mean I come to Tassie probably, you know, 10 times a year I suppose we’d get down – but to be able to spend some more time, go for some walks and enjoy some of the great locations. Just got to find the time in the diary. That’s the problem. I’ll bring Kirilly and the kids next time.
LEIGH KENWORTHY:
Fantastic. Federal Liberal Member, the Opposition Leader, Mr Peter Dutton, thanks for your time this morning on 7AD/7BU Breakfast.
PETER DUTTON:
Pleasure Leigh. Thank you.
[ends]