New South Wales Opposition Leader Mark Speakman has declined to confirm his personal stance on the Voice to Parliament, hours after taking on the role.
Mr Speakman has instead batted away questions about his opinion on the referendum by declaring he will hold talks with colleagues before revealing his view.
The Cronulla MP, who is from the dominate moderate faction, won the Liberal Party leadership ballot on Friday morning about a month after the Coalition’s election loss.
In an interview with Sky News Australia in the afternoon after defeating Anthony Roberts, Mr Speakman was asked: “What’s your position on a Voice to Parliament?”.
“I’m not going to make a captain’s call on that. I’ve only been the leader of the Liberal Party for several hours,” he told Danica De Giorgio.
“It’s important that I talk to my colleagues about that, and at the earliest opportunity we will have that discussion and form any position we might take on the Voice.”
De Giorgio pressed further, putting it to Mr Speakman: “But what’s your personal position, do you support it, or not?”.
“That’s something I’ll discuss in the first instance with my colleagues and then I’ll say something about that and something about the party’s position on the Voice,” he said.
“But at the moment, it’s important to have that consultation and not in my first few hours make some kind of captain’s call.”
Mr Speakman replaces Dominic Perrottet as Liberal leader. He resigned from the role after leading the Coalition to defeat following a 12 year term in government.
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Then premier Mr Perrottet explained to Sky News Australia Political Editor Andrew Clennell in February this year why he was backing the Voice to Parliament.
“I support it as a Liberal in-principle because I think being able to consult with our First Nations people in respect of matters that affect them is incredibly important,” he said.
“I think this is a time where we should be united as a country, but we should also have a respectful debate.”
The federal Liberal Party earlier this month revealed it supports constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians but is against what it calls the “Canberra Voice”.
Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton noted the party room said “yes to a local and regional body so that we can get practical outcomes for Indigenous people on the ground”.
“But there was a resounding no to the Prime Minister’s Canberra Voice,” Mr Dutton added when explaining his party’s position to reporters.
Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff, the last remaining state or territory Liberal leader in power, this week urged Australians to vote yes in the referendum later this year.
“I have a message for all Australians on the Voice, and this is about moving forward together as a nation with unity and purpose,” Mr Rockliff said.
“I’ve said how I’m going to vote, and that’ll be yes. And of course, that is the way that I believe in the best interests of this nation.”
