Hubris and history overwhelmed Albanese’s push for the Voice
Labor MPs wanted to speak up about the government's crash-through strategy on the Voice, but some say they were threatened when trying to raise concerns.
There was one day in 2023 when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his MPs could have thrown the Voice referendum a critical lifeline. Instead they sank it.
Fresh off Labor’s surprise victory in the Aston by-election on 1 April, some Labor MPs started to fear that Albanese and his office were being consumed by hubris. Public polls were shifting against the Voice during this critical period, but it was still registering majority support.
Albanese charged Labor Senator Nita Green to head the joint parliamentary committee on the referendum, which held five hearings between 14 April and 1 May. The committee included Liberal senator Andrew Bragg, a long-time proponent of the Voice, and Victorian MP Keith Wolahan who was prepared to support a conscience vote inside the Liberal party room if the government made concessions.
At this time, there was a growing chorus of Voice supporters — including Bragg, Liberal MP Julian Leeser, Father Frank Brennan, Indigenous leader Mick Gooda and constitutional lawyer Greg Craven — calling for the reference to “executive government” to be removed from the proposed constitutional amendment. They feared that the federal government and its agencies would be obliged to consult the Voice, and that it created an unnecessary legal risk.
