One of the architects of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament has launched an extraordinary attack on former Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
Professor Megan Davis took to social media to accuse Mr Turnbull, a prominent supporter of The Voice, of ‘putting down’ indigenous Australians.
She was responding to an article the former prime minister wrote for the Sydney Morning Herald about what the republican movement can learn from the failed Voice referendum.
“The same old elitism of 1999, the same old tired republican lines as they tear down the blacks,” Prof Davis wrote, referring to the year of the failed republic referendum that Mr Turnbull led.
In the one from last weekend articlehe wrote that “while the dust settles on the Vote defeat, Republicans should not become discouraged.
Professor Megan Davis (pictured) – one of the architects of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament – has launched an extraordinary attack on former Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull
Prof Davis slammed Malcolm Turnbull in a post (pictured) on Twitter
“There are lessons to be learned from the Voice, but that also includes giving up on constitutional reform.”
Mr Turnbull said it was ‘easy for the Voice to be presented as divisive in Australia, as a country that gives rights to some that are not available to all…’
“The Voice campaign presented a blank canvas on which opponents could paint whatever apocalypse they wanted.”
He added that “the cause of the republic is simply this: we are Australians, we believe that every office under our Constitution should be open to every Australian citizen, our head of state should be one of us, not the King or Queen from another country. .’
Professor Davis said she found his article “problematic because his analysis of vote loss is superficial and completely ignores the main driver (after bipartisanship).
“If you ignore that huge, glaring problem (in all honesty, most media and political elites ignore it), then it’s now dead in the water.”
Sydney radio host Ben Fordham was surprised by her comments and spoke about them on his 2GB show.
“Well, I don’t know where he went against Indigenous Australians, but it sounds like there’s no love lost between Professor Megan Davis and former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull,” he said on Monday.
Fordham also pointed out how Anthony Albanese had distanced himself from The Voice in the aftermath of the referendum.
‘That happened on Christmas Day on 2GB when Suzie Ellerman spoke to the Prime Minister at Reverend Bill Crews’ Uniting Church…
“I’m paraphrasing here, but Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, ‘Look, it’s not a loss for me, it’s a loss for the indigenous people.
Malcolm Turnbull (pictured with wife Lucy) has been accused of being an ‘elitist’ by professor Megan Davis
The tweet from Prof Davis (pictured) said an article Mr Turnbull wrote last weekend was “superficial”.
“I’m not Indigenous, so it doesn’t affect me as much as it affects them.”
The radio host said many of his listeners were shocked by Mr Albanese’s response: ‘Wait a minute, you spent more than a year making this the biggest problem, the only problem in the country, and now it seems like you’re running away.’
Fordham then added: “And what happens next for Indigenous Australians, who knows. It seems like it’s all gone off the radar.”
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Professor Davis and Mr Turnbull for comment.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (pictured with his partner Jody Haydon and his dog Toto) is accused of distancing himself from the failed Voice referendum
