WORLD NEWS | Australian lawmakers break ranks to support Indigenous voices

CANBERRA, April 11 (AP) – A senior lawmaker split from Australia’s opposition leadership on Tuesday, backing the government’s proposal to bring so-called indigenous voices to parliament.

Australians are expected to vote sometime between October and December on whether to create Voice, an elected body tasked with advocating Indigenous interests in parliament but not voting on laws.

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Julian Leeser has resigned as the conservative Liberal Party’s shadow attorney-general and Indigenous Australian shadow minister so he can advocate for the creation of voices.

As a member of the shadow cabinet, Leese had to oppose constitutional amendments.

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“I believe the age of sound has arrived,” Leeser told reporters. “I believe in the national voice from local and regional institutions and I will support a referendum held this year.”

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has been criticized for insisting that senior lawmakers follow the party line.

Former Aboriginal affairs minister Ken Wyatt, the first Aboriginal lawmaker to hold the post, resigned from his membership last week over the Liberal Party’s stance on The Voice. Wyatt lost his seat in parliamentary elections last year.

Lisse said he still supported Dutton as leader.

“I resign without rancor or resentment and I remain a committed Liberal fully committed to Peter Dutton’s leadership,” Leezer said.

“My resignation from the frontbench today has nothing to do with personality. It’s about trying to hold on to the ropes of faith and belonging that are part of who I am,” Leeser added.

Aboriginal Australians from the Torres Strait Islands off the northeast coast are culturally distinct from the mainland Aboriginal population.

These two Aboriginal people make up 3.2 per cent of Australia’s population and are the most disadvantaged ethnic groups in Australia.

Voices was originally launched in 2017 by a group of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander advocates. (Associated Press)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)