Coalition leader Peter Dutton has seemingly backtracked on his own proposal for a referendum recognising First Nations people in the constitution, as well as ones for four-year parliamentary terms and stripping citizenship of dual nationals.
Mr Dutton told The Australian newspaper in an interview published on Saturday he was open to referendums on the three issues if there was bipartisanship. He offered a desire to hold a referendum to include a preamble in the Constitution to recognise Indigenous Australians - something rejected by multiple Indigenous-led referendum processes.
"I hope at some stage there will be common ground," he said.
However, on Sunday the opposition leader said: "There will be no referendum until there's a position of bipartisanship, and clearly there's no bipartisanship on this issue."
It is the second time he has offered, then shot down, his proposal for a referendum on Indigenous recognition.
Despite being a key voice in uniting the Coalition behind rejecting the Voice model, during the referendum campaign Mr Dutton proposed the option of symbolic recognition of Indigenous Australians in the constitution.
However, after the referendum result, he backtracked, arguing Australians were "probably over the referendum process for some time".
On Sunday, Mr Dutton - who walked out of then-Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's apology to the Stolen Generation in 2008 - didn't offer up a way to gain support from Indigenous groups for the symbolic recognition proposal, instead arguing the Coalition would focus on "practical support" for Indigenous Australians, including the reduction of crime in Alice Springs.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters in Canberra on Sunday he didn't intend to hold any referendums if he wins government for a second term - despite flagging his support for four-year parliamentary terms.
He criticised Mr Dutton's seemingly changing positions, arguing the opposition leader "said that he'd hold a referendum on Indigenous recognition and then walked away from it".
"He also said recently he'd have a referendum about citizenship, but it's not clear what his position is on that either, whether he is still pursuing that," the Prime Minister said.
The 2017 Uluru statement from the heart previously rejected symbolic recognition. It called for a Voice to parliament as the model, treaties, and a truth-telling process.
"Everybody stood and clapped and cheered and [there was] lots of hugging," Alyawarre woman Aunty Pat Anderson, who led the dialogue, said in 2023.
Yes Campaigner Noel Pearson said the Voice model was "a constitutional bridge to create an ongoing dialogue between the First Peoples and Australian governments and parliaments" to close the gap.
An ANU study following the referendum found 61.7 per cent of voters said they would "definitely or probably would have voted yes if there was a referendum on recognition", whilst 12.5 per cent said they would have voted no.
