Independent MP Zali Steggall has thrown her weight behind the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, saying an impartial voice is needed to help close the gap.
The member for Warringah, the seat formerly held by one-time prime minister Tony Abbott, told Sky News on Sunday that a consultative body was part of the process of righting past wrong.
"As a member of parliament, I need to form a view in relation to many pieces of legislation that I know will impact Indigenous communities," she said.
"I would like to be able to access impartial advice from such a body."
Ms Steggall said public money had been wasted in the past because many program that had been designed to help First Nation people had been destroyed by infighting and politics.
She highlighted the finding in previous Closing the Gap reports, saying "time and time again, [they show] that we are failing."
"It would be absolutely negligent for us to continue down the same path, we simply must do better."
"We can't undo the wrongs of the past but we very much can decide what nation we are in the future."
Zali Steggall also criticised opposition leader Peter Dutton for his attempts to sow doubt into the electorate by insisting there still wasn't enough detail on the proposed constitutional changes.
Mr Dutton told the ABC insiders programme on Sunday that Anthony Albanese still couldn't answer questions about the body.
"You can't out-legislate constitutional change, you need to ensure that it will be for the best," he said.
Indigenous leaders, including Noel Pearson, have previously called on Mr Dutton to unite behind the Voice, begging him in February to "not to play a spoiling game".
Ms Steggall also rejected Peter Dutton's fears, saying there was "absolutely" enough detail out there.
"I really reject the scaremongering that's been happening from Peter Dutton about this," she said.
"It does come down to the conscience of every Australian of whether they feel the status quo is working. I would argue that every Close the Gap report says it is not."
Closing the Gap reports have consistently shown that First Nations people, through a variety of reasons – including isolation, systemic racism, and trauma due to colonialism -fall behind non-Indigenous people in metrics such as education, life expectancy and infant-mortality rate.
In 2018, a group of Australia's peak Indigenous and non-Indigenous health bodies, NGOs and human rights organisations released a review highlighting the reasons that gap hasn't been closed in previous years, and why it won't if governments continue down the current path.
