Peter Dutton has been accused of rolling out the same excuses he used against the apology to the Stolen Generations 15 years ago to oppose the Voice to Parliament.
The fierce opponent of the Voice has been leading the charge in questioning whether it will deliver practical outcomes for First Nations people and the cost to the public at a time when families are struggling to buy groceries and pay rent.
But the Opposition leader’s concerns are virtually the same or similar to those which prompted his decision to boycott Kevin Rudd’s landmark apology to the Stolen Generations in 2008 – a decision Mr Dutton later admitted he regretted.
Speaking of the apology during an interview on March 15, 2010, Mr Dutton said: ‘I regarded it as something which was not going to deliver tangible outcomes to kids who are being raped and tortured in communities in the 21st century.
‘If I thought for a moment that it was going to deliver positive outcomes to those kids, to their families, to those communities, then I would support it in a heartbeat.
‘But I thought it distracted us from that.’
Mr Albanese was sat directly behind Kevin Rudd when he made the landmark speech in 2008
Peter Dutton refused to witness the speech, but later apologised for not recognising the ‘symbolic significance’ of the apology
These comments echo concerns Mr Dutton has expressed about the Voice to Parliament.
On April 12, 2023, he said: ‘I don’t believe that a Canberra voice of 24 people who predominantly come from capital cities is going to be the solution to the problems here on the ground.
‘If it did, I’d embrace it straight away.’
And on April 5, he said: ‘We have been clear we don’t support his Canberra voice. It is divisive and won’t deliver the outcomes to people on the ground.’
In May 2022, Mr Dutton admitted he’d made a mistake in boycotting the national apology.
He said his experience on the frontlines as a police officer in Townsville made him believe an apology ‘should be given when the problems were resolved’ and not before.
Pictured: Moments after Kevin Rudd’s landmark apology to the Stolen Generations in 2008
Mr Albanese has addressed Mr Dutton’s refusal to join in on the national apology during heated Voice debates
At the time, he vowed to work with the newly elected Labor government to improve conditions on the ground in disadvantaged Aboriginal communities, but has since lost faith in the Voice being the correct mechanism to do so.
On August 3 this year, Mr Dutton expressed concerns that the height of a cost of living crisis was the wrong time for the government to be campaigning so intently on constitutional reform.
He said: ‘Australian families at the moment are paying more for their electricity bills; they’re paying more at the grocery checkout; they’re paying more for their insurance; they’re paying more for their mortgages because of this incompetent government.
‘The incompetency is not just demonstrated in terms of the Prime Minister’s management around the voice, it is every aspect of government delivery at the moment. That’s what the Australian public is experiencing.’
One of the most repeated criticisms of the Voice – not from Mr Dutton directly but from his party and on the No side generally – is that the Voice will lead to a treaty, which could in turn lead to reparations.
This sitting fortnight, the Opposition has honed in on treaty, and the functions of a Makarrata Commission, during Question Time
This sitting fortnight, the Opposition has honed in on treaty, and the functions of a Makarrata Commission, during Question Time in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
There have been reports that a treaty – or multiple treaties, if that were the route the federal and state governments ventured down – could cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
Treaties take decades to finalise and Yes advocates have repeatedly insisted a Voice to Parliament remains the priority.
The Opposition’s concerns about the potential cost to taxpayers which could come as a result of the Voice are also similar to concerns Mr Dutton held in 2008 ahead of the apology.
On January 8, 2008, he said: ‘It would beggar belief that they would be contemplating an apology that could open the government up to serious damages claims without knowing what those claims would be.’
Mr Dutton suggested at the time the government could face an enormous compensation bill ‘at a time when there are stresses on the economy’.
In June of this year, Mr Dutton told Ray Hadley: ‘The Canberra Voice, ultimately, is a bureaucracy and it’s going to be literally thousands of additional public servants at the cost of billions of dollars to provide the advice and information on every area of government policy.’
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has repeatedly drawn similarities between Mr Dutton’s decision in 2008 and his current opposition to the Voice
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has repeatedly drawn similarities between Mr Dutton’s decision in 2008 and his current opposition to the Voice.
Just last week, the PM told parliament the Opposition had ‘decided to stick with division’ in their line of questioning over the Voice.
‘The Leader of the Opposition not only opposed it (the national apology), threatened to resign from the frontbench over it, and walked out. Walked out on that event.
‘So terrible was it that in that moment of national unity, there were only a few people who were so determined to sew division that they just couldn’t cop the concept of saying sorry for the wrong thing being done, for children being stolen from mothers, fathers and grandparents, families and communities. Could not stomach it.’
And on June 21, in parliament, Mr Albanese said: ‘Earlier this year, the Leader of the Opposition apologised for boycotting the National Apology to the Stolen Generations. Yet, what we have is a return to the same playbook.’
The PM was referencing a speech Mr Dutton made earler in 2023, in response to criticism about his handling of the apology.
He said: ‘I failed to grasp at the time the symbolic significance to the stolen generation of the apology.’
