‘Loyal’: MP’s claim after quitting over Voice

Former shadow attorney general and long-time Voice supporter Julian Leeser insisted he has no plans to leave the party and remained loyal to his leader.

But he said he had no choice but to quit the shadow cabinet to campaign for the issue he has supported for almost a decade.

“I felt as a matter of conscience and a matter of my own ethics as a matter of saying to my children, that you’ve got to stand for something even when it costs you, that I needed to resign to take a different position,” he told Nine.

“I’m loyal to the party. I’m loyal to Peter Dutton. I’m absolutely loyal as a Liberal member. I have a different view. We should have a society where people can agree to disagree on a reasonable issue.”

Shadow ministers are bound by the Liberals decision to oppose the Voice but backbench MPs are able to campaign in line with their views.

It’s expected a Liberals for Yes group, similar to the one established during the same-sex marriage campaign, will be formed by backbench colleague senator Andrew Bragg.

The referendum to recognise Indigenous Australians and enshrine the advisory body in the constitution and is expected to be put to the people between October and December this year.

Explaining his decision, Mr Leeser said he believed in the Voice proposal but wanted the government to “remove the barnacles” from the policy.

“So we have the voice in the Constitution, but we allow the parliament to make changes to the voice from time to time,” he said.

“And that means that we have maximum flexibility in the way in which the voice operates into the future, “ he said.

Speaking to Seven, deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley said she admired her colleague‘s “moral principle” and predicted he would be a minister in a future Coalition government.

But the overwhelming majority of the party room did not support Mr Leeser’s view, she said.

Government Services Minister Bill Shorten praised Mr Leeser while speaking with Nine and called for Mr Dutton to stop the “jaw clenching” and show the same “courage”.

“We‘ve got to have a constructive opposition. I worry that he’s injected such a political node into an issue about recognition of our First Nations people in the Constitution,” he told Nine.

“I just say to Peter, you don’t have to chase every ball winner in opposition. Pick the issues that really matter. So far, I think he seems to be more of a negative mindset than constructive.”