Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has blasted Anthony Albanese after the Prime Minister's "train wreck" radio interview where he was told to "answer the question" when pressed on key details of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
Mr Albanese was asked by 2GB's Ben Fordham on Wednesday about several elements of how the Voice proposal will work including whether members will be elected or appointed.
Mr Dutton later lashed out at Mr Albanese for having a "shocker" and said the Prime Minister "didn't know what he was talking about".
The Liberal leader added Mr Albanese "had a lot of work" to do before the referendum to enshrine the Voice in the Constitution is held in the second half of this year.
"It's no wonder Australians are confused and if Anthony Albanese can't explain it to you, why would you vote for it?" Mr Dutton said.
"He's got a lot of work to do because at the moment, nobody wants to see the cause of reconciliation go backwards and if he presides over a model which is botched from the start, then that's exactly what will happen and nobody wants that.
"He needs to be very careful with the tricky path that he's taking at the moment, might be clever politics not to provide the detail but it's going to result in a very difficult situation come the second half of this year."
Mr Albanese has repeatedly pointed to the Calma-Langton report on the Indigenous Voice co-design process when asked about details of the proposal but Mr Dutton said the Prime Minister needed to do a better job of explaining how it would work.
"The Prime Minister needs to explain the detail, that's all Australians are asking for and I don't think it's unreasonable the Prime Minister now comes out and provides the detail," the Liberal leader said.
"When the Prime Minister makes reference to the Calma-Langton report, there are different options in that report. The Prime Minister hasn't adopted the report.
"So it's completely disingenuous to say if you vote for the Voice in the upcoming Constitutional referendum you'll get the report, the government hasn't adopted the report and there are options in the report, so we don't even know what the Prime Minister's talking about.
"And if you listen to him this morning on 2GB the Prime Minister doesn't know what he's talking about either."
The Nationals late last year publicly stated the federal party's opposition to the Voice proposal but Mr Dutton is yet to declare the Liberal Party's stance.
Mr Albanese clashed with Fordham after referring to the Calma-Langton report as he begun his answer to the question of elected or appointed Voice members.
Fordham cut in and told the Prime Minister to "just answer the question", to which Mr Albanese responded: "You asked a question, let me answer it".
Fordham hit back: "You're losing people when you constantly point to reports. You're always talking about, 'Go and read the 260 page report'. This is a radio show".
Mr Albanese denied that was the case, declaring: "I am not. I'm about to tell you what's in it", as Fordham again pressed on him "appointed or elected?".
"I am about to tell you what is in it," the Prime Minister continued, prompting Fordham to point out: "That's not the question, PM. Appointed or elected?".
"I'm about to tell you, if you actually stop talking and allow me to answer the question. It envisages two people from each state and territory. It then envisages a group of people specifically representing remote communities," Mr Albanese said.
Fordham told Mr Albanese he had not answered the question, to which the Prime Minister snapped back: "Because you're not interested in the answer".
"No, you're telling me how many people and where they might be. I'm asking very simply, are they appointed or elected?" Fordham said.
The Prime Minister then pointed to a section of the report that referred to a process underway in New South Wales about an Indigenous Voice.
"What the report suggests is that in some cases, in New South Wales for example, they are already working towards, so for your listeners, they're already working towards a Voice in New South Wales towards some process whereby Indigenous people vote for a group and that would come from that existing group," he said.
Mr Albanese was further asked why he had not sought legal advice from the Attorney-General.
"The Attorney-General isn't there to give legal advice. The Attorney-General is the Attorney-General. The Solicitor-General is the person which you are confusing, is the person who gives legal advice to the Government," the Labor leader said.
Fordham was then keen to know if legal advice was received from the Solicitor-General but the Prime Minister said: "No, we got advice from a range of High Court judges, former High Court judges are on the record, such as Justice French and others".
Mr Albanese was also pressed on potential legal minefields that might arise if the Voice to Parliament referendum is successful.
"If it's advising government, and when you originally made the announcement, you used the words, 'A Voice to Parliament and to government', and if a Voice can constitutionally advise government, that creates a legal minefield," Fordham noted.
"This is what the experts are saying. Because if the Voice makes a recommendation which is not endorsed by government or ignored, then legally they can take you to the High Court."
Mr Albanese said "that's not right" and pointed to draft details he released in July last year where "it makes it very clear, very clear that that's not the case".
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMi2QFodHRwczovL3d3dy5za3luZXdzLmNvbS5hdS9hdXN0cmFsaWEtbmV3cy9wb2xpdGljcy9wZXRlci1kdXR0b24tcmVuZXdzLWNhbGxzLWZvci1hbnRob255LWFsYmFuZXNlLXRvLWdpdmUtbW9yZS1kZXRhaWxzLW9uLXZvaWNlLXRvLXBhcmxpYW1lbnQtYWZ0ZXItcG1zLXRyYWluLXdyZWNrLWludGVydmlldy9uZXdzLXN0b3J5LzU5MmFiNTVhOGU3YjU4YWU1ZTM0MDBkMjQwZTc2ZWFm0gEA?oc=5
2023-01-18 03:15:15Z
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