‘I’m here to change the country’: Albanese launches an uncompromising Indigenous voice plan

Attempting to appease conservatives was pointless and risked failure, the referendum working group told the PM. It appears he listened

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It’s on. On Thursday, the Albanese government leapt a major hurdle in the long run to a successful referendum on an Indigenous voice to parliament at the end of the year.

After a flurry of late night meetings with his referendum working group – including a robust exchange of views about the amendment and the question, and furious and inaccurate public speculation about concessions and compromises – the final form of words announced on Thursday has not shifted significantly from the one Albanese announced at the Garma festival in July last year.

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