Indigenous Voice to Parliament slammed by Pauline Hanson saying it divides by race

Pauline Hanson has slammed the push to introduce an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, claiming it will segregate the country.

The One Nation leader argued it would cause more harm than good and ‘separate Australians based on their race’.

‘It’s about equality for all Australians regardless of your race, you know, to say that I have no connection to the land is a load of ‘bs’, I was born here, I love this country, they don’t have any more rights over it than what I do,’ she told Sky News.

The One Nation leader demanded Anthony Albanese share more details about his proposal to hold a referendum (pictured, Mr Albanese at the Garma Festival in the Northern Territory when he first announced plans to introduce a Voice to Parliament in July)

‘It will be rushed through, people will vote emotionally with it, thinking oh yeah why not it’s not gonna have an impact on us.

Ms Hanson argued she was an ‘Australian as much as any Aboriginal’ and that residents should be treated equally.

The One Nation leader demanded Anthony Albanese share more details about his proposal to hold a referendum.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has also refused to reveal where he stands on the matter until more information comes to light, despite his coalition partner Nationals already having seen enough to declare they couldn’t support it.

‘They’ve had a really good conversation in their party room, there’s obviously a clear majority view they don’t think the government has provided enough detail,’ he said.

‘Pat Dodson from the government is coming out saying there will be no detail and I don’t know how you can say to the Australian public, we want you to consider a really important aspect of public policy … and you end up in a situation where the government won’t provide any detail ahead of a vote and people reasonably are asking why.’

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has also refused to reveal where he stands on the matter until more information comes to light, despite his coalition partner Nationals already having seen enough to declare they couldn’t support it

Independent MP Allegra Spender backed the Labor government’s approach after correspondence with them on Thursday, saying they’d outlined the parliament of the day would shape what form the voice takes.

She said the briefing had made clear the voice would have some ‘particular qualities’ including not sitting as a third chamber of government, adding a referendum was about tweaking the constitution rather than voting for a law change.

‘The constitution is about principles, and this is a question of changes to the constitution, this is not a question of changes to legislation,’ she told ABC Radio.

‘I support the government in where it is going and I support that the parliament of the day will determine what that looks like.’

Ms Spender said there was strong crossbench interest in the voice regarding how Indigenous communities could help shape it.

‘This is something that will be there to … give Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people a voice on the services that affected them,’ she said.

Independent MP Allegra Spender backed the Labor government’s approach after correspondence with them on Thursday, saying they’d outlined the parliament of the day would shape what form the voice takes

‘That is the fundamental reason why I’m supporting this, because we’ve spent decades with policies and laws that are in effect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people but they do not have the voice in terms of making sure this is actually what the communities want.’

Labor minister Amanda Rishworth said Mr Dutton was being ‘disingenuous’ to create ‘doubt and uncertainty’ and called on him to show leadership.

‘What we are putting forward is a very simple proposition in terms of constitutional change – do First Nations people deserve to have a voice in the issues that affect them?’ she told ABC Radio.

‘His party is clearly divided on this, but he needs to be a leader when it comes to this and listen to the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.’