What is the Voice to Parliament?
This October, all Australians citizens will be required to vote in the first referendum held in 24 years. We will be asked:
“A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.
Do you approve this proposed alteration?”
In recognition of this once in a generation opportunity, politicians, community groups, sporting codes and businesses are uniting despite their political, social and religious differences to support the YES vote.
Although the Liberal Party has officially opposed the proposal, several former and current Liberal politicians have come out in support of the Voice to Parliament, appearing in the media the community to discuss the reasons they're backing this historical proposal.
Join the Independent Member for Wentworth, Allegra Spender MP in conversation with the Member for Berowra, Julian Leeser MP and Geoffrey Winters, proud Gamilaroi man from Richmond and former Liberal candidate.
They will discuss the reasons the Voice to Parliament is being supported by all sides of politics, deal with the difficult questions they're frequently faced with, and answer questions from the audience about what the Voice will look like and the implications for Australia's future.
Julian Leeser is the Liberal Member for Berowra. Julian was first elected as the Member for Berowra in July 2016 and has been re-elected twice since.
From June 2022 to April 2023, Julian served as the Shadow Attorney-General and Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians. He resigned from the frontbench on a matter of principle and has been an active supporter of the YES campaign for the 2023 Referendum. Julian previously served as Co-Chair of the Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition Relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and Chair of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Indigenous Affairs. This committee undertook reports into food pricing and food security in remote communities, Indigenous participation in employment and business and corporate engagement with Indigenous consumers.
Julian has a long interest in the Constitution and constitutional issues. Julian was an elected delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1998 aged 21. He was appointed by John Howard to be part of the formal National No campaign organising committee. He was an associate to High Court Justice Ian Callinan and has worked as a lawyer at Mallesons Stephen Jacques (now King & Wood Mallesons). Julian is a founder of Uphold and Recognise an organisation which seeks to encourage constitutional conservatives to support constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians. Prior to entering Parliament, Julian worked as a senior executive at Australian Catholic University. He served on several boards including Mercy Health, Teach for Australia and was previously Executive Director of the Menzies Research Centre.
Julian has degrees in arts and law from the University of NSW and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He spent 2006-2007 as a Visiting Fellow at the Taubman Centre at the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Julian is a person of faith and is committed to a strong diverse Australia. Julian is the first Jewish person elected to the House of Representatives from New South Wales for the Liberal Party.