No plan to take up ‘gratuitous advice’ to rethink position ahead of referendum says O’Connor MP Rick Wilson

O’Connor MHR Rick Wilson has responded to calls for him to “rethink his position” ahead of this year’s Voice to Parliament referendum by labelling it “gratuitous advice”. During a visit to Albany last week, Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney said she was aware Mr Wilson intended to vote no and urged him to rethink his position. “It is a real shame that there can’t be bipartisan support about this,” she said. “This is for the well-being and future of not only this country but Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. “I would encourage Mr Wilson to rethink his position to recognise that he is representing people of this part of the world and he needs to listen to what people have got to say here.” Ms Burney was in Albany as part of a tour of regional WA promoting the Yes campaign. Mr Wilson said he was disappointed Ms Burney had opted to offer “gratuitous advice through the local media” rather than having the courtesy to make contact with his office. He said the “blow-in visit” to the electorate he had lived in for his entire life raised more questions than it answered. “If Ms Burney had contacted me, I would have told her that a survey of O’Connor residents conducted by my office last month attracted 1628 responses, 80.1 per cent of which opposed the Voice,” he said. He said he was opposing the Voice because “constitutional change is virtually forever” and there was not enough detail known about how it would be implemented. “The Albanese Government has not put nearly enough thought into potential impacts across the Australian community,” he said. “It is very likely that the Voice will be dominated by east coast elites, and that not one Aboriginal member will come from the vast O’Connor electorate. “In the lead-up to the referendum, I will be one of a handful of Liberal MPs who will help draft the 2000-word ‘No’ pamphlet that will go to voters across Australia.” During her visit to Albany, Ms Burney met representatives of Aboriginal organisations, hosted a Voice community forum alongside Albany MLA Rebecca Stephens and met elders and community members. At the time, she said she was not concerned by polling that suggested WA had one of the lowest levels of support for the Yes vote because there were “many months to polling day”. “I’m hoping that Western Australia will support a Yes vote, in fact, I’m absolutely confident that Western Australia will deliver a Yes vote in the referendum,” she said.