Former prime minister Tony Abbott has told a forum in Geelong the consitution must remain “colour blind,” and urged locals to vote no.
Tuesday night’s ‘No to the Voice’ event at Geelong West Town Hall was organised by right wing Liberal MPs Bev McArthur and Joe McCracken and featured Mr Abbott as key speaker.
The former PM acted as Scott Morrison’s “special envoy” on indigenous affairs after he left parliament in 2019 and is an outspoken critic of the Voice to Parliament referendum.
He urged people in the Geelong region to think carefully before making a decision ahead of the October 14 vote.
“If you’re going to change the consttution, make sure it’s the right (decision),” he told Geelong Broadcasters.
“Don’t take any risks with what might to turn out to be wrong.
“I think it’s very important that we keep the constitution colour blind. In Bob Hawke’s legendary words from 1988, ‘in this country we have no hierarchy of descent, we have no privelege of origin’.
“The trouble with the Voice is that it creates a hierarchy of descent, it creates a privilege of origin, and on this issue I’m on a unity ticket with Bob Hawke – I don’t think we should change our constitution to make some people more special than others.”
Mr Abbott said that while he had always been committed to indigenous recognition, the Voice debate was about more than that.
“This referendum … is about power, it’s about trying to ensure that you’ve got a bigger say over our country if at least some of your ancestry goes back past 1788, than the say that everyone who’s come since has.
“This is why I keep saying to people, this referendum is more important than any … election because you can change a bad government, you can change a bad law, but if you make a big mistake with the constitution you’re stuck with it.”
