Australia PM condemns 'scare' tactics on Indigenous reform

SYDNEY - Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Saturday attacked an opposition "scare campaign" against his plan to give Indigenous people a constitutional right to be consulted on laws that impact them.

Opinion polls show faltering support for the reform, known as the Voice, which was proposed by Indigenous communities to improve policymaking and to give them recognition in the constitution for the first time.

Australians will vote on it in a referendum expected in mid-October.

An Essential survey of 1,150 voters released last week put the "no" camp ahead for the first time with 47 percent against, 43 percent in favour and 10 percent undecided.

Other recent surveys indicated the "yes" side was slightly ahead despite a gradual decline over the past year.

To pass, the constitutional amendment needs a majority of votes in favour, both nationally and in most states.

Despite earlier indicating support for legislation to enshrine the reform, the conservative opposition Liberal Party had since been "running a scare campaign about the Voice", Albanese said.

"The contradictions are there for all to see," he told reporters during a visit to Queensland.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has warned that the so-called Voice proposal would "change our whole system of government".

He has also vowed to fight for Indigenous people's recognition in the constitution if he wins government in a future election -- but only if it does not grant them a right to be consulted on laws.

Albanese said Dutton's promise was "disingenuous".

Dutton had been part of the previous conservative government that failed to give Indigenous people recognition in the constitution, he said.

Supporters say the reform would help address the colonial legacy and inequalities faced by Aboriginal Australians, whose ancestors have lived on the continent for at least 60,000 years.

More than 200 years since British settlement and the ensuing persecution of Indigenous Australians, they are more likely to be poor, undereducated, sick or jailed.

But opponents say the proposed reform is divisive, lacks detail, adds unnecessary bureaucracy and risks clogging up the courts.

False claims have also been spread online, including one debunked by AFP's Fact Check that Australians risked having their land taken away from them in case of a "yes" vote.

The prime minister urged Australians to seize the moment and vote for the reform.

"I say this: There is an opportunity to get constitutional recognition for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people this year," Albanese said.

A vote in favour of the constitutional change would "lift up all Australians", he said.

"If not now, when?" he asked, warning that a "no" vote could put the question on the back burner for a long time to come.

"I say to Australians, this is an opportunity. Don't miss it." - AFP