In a dramatic intervention for the ‘Voice’, renowned advocate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights, Father Frank Brennan has announced a new draft constitutional amendment he believes can help get most Australians to vote ‘Yes’ at this year’s referendum.

Father Brennan, a Jesuit priest who served on the Senior Advisory Group guiding the co-design process to develop an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, is pushing for a simplified amendment to form a new section 127 of the Constitution, arguing his formula of words are legally water-tight.

He believes his amendment is consistent with the Uluru Statement from the Heart of 2017 and the Constitution’s architecture and does not run the risk of the courts being clogged or threaten the workings of good government.

Father Brennan explains these would not be constitutional functions of the Voice; its structure would be determined by legislation and could be varied from time to time by legislation.

Here’s a comparison between the draft constitutional amendments put forward by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Father Frank Brennan:

CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW TO ENLARGE:

Brennan also echoed concerns raised by former High Court Justice, Ian Callinan about Mr. Albanese’s amendment — notably the second sentence giving the Voice entitlement under the Constitution to make representation to Executive Government (Ministers and Public Servants) on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples —stating it would run the risk of judicial review under Section 75 (5) of the Constitution.

He said with his amendment, Australians would not need to worry about there being any legal confusion with this Referendum.

Father Frank Brennan SJ, who was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1995 for services to Aboriginal Australians, was speaking to Ben Fordham to coincide with the release of his new book, An Indigenous Voice to Parliament: Considering a Constitutional Bridge.

See more highlights from Ben Fordham below