MADELEINE MORRIS: We heard that the Prime Minister thinks that this is a blow to the case. Is it a fatal blow?
MALARNDIRRI MCCARTHY: Well, what the Prime Minister was referring to was really the statistical facts that it is difficult to win a referendum. I mean we know that only eight out of 44 have been won in our country. And of course, we've tried to seek bipartisanship from the get go. And so naturally, it's it's very disappointing that Peter Dutton has made the announcement that he has.
MORRIS: Because if you look at the numbers in that Newspoll that came out yesterday, they're actually not strong. So 54% of all Australians for, only 51 in WA, Queensland's against. I mean this could really go either way at this stage, couldn't it?
MCCARTHY: Well, clearly there's still a lot of work to do and I have no doubt that many of the people who are involved with the "yes" campaign are doing that across the country. Let's remember that this focus is clearly on the politicians in Canberra and that was never what the Uluru statement was about and it still isn't really. I would say to all Australians, go and have a ready of the Uluru statement from the heart and remember what it was that First Nations people are generously asking and inviting you to journey on.
MORRIS: Yeah, the people who it's supposed to help most of course, is Indigenous Australians, particularly those in those rural areas. We've been speaking this week on News Breakfast to some people from Titjikala south of Alice Springs. There's certainly support for more representation, but a lot of people hadn't actually heard of The Voice. They didn't know what it was going to do for them. If these are the people who are supposed to be helping, there's a lot of work to do there, isn't there?
MCCARTHY: Of course, there's a tremendous amount of work, and it certainly doesn't happen when the emphasis is always on Canberra and the politicians in Canberra. And this is why we have, even in the Parliament now a friendship group for the Uluru Statement, where politicians have been invited to that to try and get people to realise that this is a difficult journey. But let's not forget how it all began and that it actually has been one that both sides of politics have walked for some time since even Prime Minister John Howard. So this is not about a voice of the Prime Minister as Peter Dutton has wanted to play here. This is about the First Nations people who gathered at Uluru after much dialogue across the country.
MORRIS: Has your government been too rigid in how its approached the wording? I mean, they've said that they're open to changing the wording after the committee process, but this particular concern we know around the executive government clause. Is there enough room for wriggle room there?
MCCARTHY: What we have been is open and transparent, from the night of the election, when the Prime Minister said in his acceptance speech that he would follow through on the request by the Uluru statement from the heart, and that is to go to a referendum to look at the request of voice, treaty, choice. And through that process, we've set up working groups, engagement groups and the legal expert groups who have actually met with both Julian Leeser and Peter Dutton a number of times, and so has the Prime Minister throughout that time. And so this parliamentary process of this of the inquiry is part of what we do with pieces of legislation, and now it's out to the Australian people to put forward their submissions on the wording, which is the right and just thing to do.
MORRIS: So how much really are you open to changing the wording at this stage?
MCCARTHY: Well, it will be down to the parliamentary process now. I mean, there is a committee formed and like all committees that come before the Parliament, we wait for their report.
MORRIS: If this does go through, let's project a bit further down, October, November. If it does go through, and it is successful, does Peter Dutton need to resign?
MCCARTHY: Well, that's going to be a question for Peter Dutton. And at this point in time I just want to focus on the First Nations people who are working so hard along with non-Indigenous Australians, to keep this journey respectful, to keep it enlightened, to see that this is a future that can be better for our country. We're having sorry business up here in the Northern Territory because of a great leader who believes so much in this. In fact, Peter Dutton met with him just recently before he passed and I know that he would have expressed the importance of this journey. So this has to be about Australians, and I really think that it's time for the Australian people to speak.