The Commonwealth’s top legal adviser told a key referendum working group the constitutional wording for an Indigenous Voice to parliament posed limited legal risk as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese continues to resist calls to release his advice.
Solicitor-General Stephen Donaghue, whose opinion has become central to the political debate over the Voice’s scope, did not recommend removing the ability for the Voice to lobby the executive branch of government when speaking to members of the government’s powerful referendum working group.
Solicitor-General Stephen Donaghue’s opinion has become central to the debate over the Voice’s scope.Five members of the working group, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of confidentiality agreements, confirmed Donaghue did not speak in favour of watering down the Voice when he presented to the group with Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus on March 9.
The solicitor-general’s written advice has only been seen by cabinet ministers and a small group of top Indigenous leaders, who were required to read it in a secure room and unable to keep the document.to release the advice, spurring claims of secrecy and widening the partisan gulf over the referendum.
Sources said prominent members of the working group pressed Donaghue on the risk of the High Court being forced to adjudicate on government decisions if someone argued the Voice body was not properly consulted. Donaghue responded, they said, by downplaying the risk.Their recollection of Donaghue’s remarks in the March 9 meeting offer the clearest indication of his legal opinion to date.
At this same key meeting, the working group discussed with Dreyfus and Donaghue the political risks posed by not appeasing conservatives who do not support the Voice speaking to the executive.
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