Liberal MP quits shadow cabinet over Voice stance: 'The time has come'

A Liberal frontbencher who was instrumental in building the foundation of the Indigenous voice has resigned from the Coalition's shadow cabinet.

Shadow attorney-general Julian Leeser quit after the party room determined to oppose a constitutionally enshrined Voice to advise parliament and executive government. Liberal shadow cabinet ministers are bound to the party position and a free vote has not been granted, but backbenchers are not tied to the decision.

Mr Leeser previously co-chaired a committee on constitutional recognition for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and said he hoped to one day make his newborn son proud after setting out details for an Indigenous Voice to government.

"Earlier today I resigned from the Shadow Cabinet," he wrote in a Facebook post this morning.

"Almost ten years ago, I sat down with a small group of constitutional conservatives and Indigenous leaders and worked on a proposal for constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

"The idea we developed was different, it was organic, it was consistent with our constitutional heritage, and it was a uniquely Australian idea designed for Australian conditions.

"The proposal was called the Voice," the statement, which he also read out in front of reporters on Tuesday, said.

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"I believe the time for the Voice has come. I believe in local and regional voices. I believe in a national Voice, drawn from local and regional bodies," he told reporters.

"I've had many respectful discussions with colleagues about the Voice over the past year. I've listened to their views and they've heard mine but ultimately I haven't been able to persuade them."

Mr Leeser, who will now be free to campaign in favour of the Voice, urged Australians to come together and "recognise our indigenous brother and sisters".

"As a conservative, I believe in our shared national fabric. We need to find common ground as Australians, not just on this issue but on so many more. No great nation has ever been built by dividing it. Good nations engage in the search for common purpose and common ground."

Several senior Liberals have argued for people to be able to campaign according to their conscience, as was the case in the republic referendum more than two decades ago.

Mr Leeser's decision comes days after former Indigenous Australians minister Ken Wyatt quit the Liberals following the party's decision to oppose the Indigenous Voice referendum.

Young Liberals president open to voting 'yes'

Young Liberals Federal president Dimitry Chugg-Palmer has also expressed a willingness to go against the federal party's position, saying he is open to voting 'yes' to a constitutionally enshrined Voice but echoed calls for more details about the proposed body.

"Raising those questions and raising those doubts is not a way of trying to frustrate or stop it, it's about being honest so we know what it is we are voting for," he told the ABC's Q&A program on Monday night.

"I want to see us reconcile with First Australians. I think it's the right thing to give them a say on decisions that affect them. That is a fundamentally Liberal principle."

with AAP

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