Anthony Albanese says voice will help ensure taxpayer dollars are ‘spent better and more efficiently’ | Indigenous Australians #Anthony #Albanese #voice #ensure #taxpayer #dollars #spent #efficiently #Indigenous #Australians

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, says a yes vote for the Indigenous voice to parliament will save money by helping to design more cost-effective programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Indigenous leaders from the Northern Territory came to Canberra on Thursday to urge Australians to listen to their “heart” to support the referendum, saying the voice would help address health, education and housing issues in their communities.

But the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has claimed the nation is not ready to vote in the referendum, accusing the government of “starving” voters of detail.

In a WSFM interview, Albanese painted the voice as a cost-saving measure, saying it would help ensure public funds were “spent better and more efficiently”.

“Everyone knows there’s been billions of dollars expended on [Indigenous] education, health and housing. Governments of all persuasions have, with the best of intentions, expended a lot of taxpayers’ money trying to close that gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia,” the prime minister said. “But the truth is that in so many areas, it’s not going forward, it’s going backwards.”

Since the passage of the constitutional alteration bill through parliament on Monday, the government has accelerated its public messaging on the referendum, and changed gear to more strongly focus on the tangible benefits of the voice. In a series of commercial-friendly media appearances this week, Albanese has sought to explain the voice in more user-friendly language; while the government used Thursday’s question time to have key ministers describe how the voice could assist in their portfolios.

On WSFM, Albanese answered a number of questions from listeners. Describing how the voice would work, he said: “It will simply be an advisory body, just like we have a range of other advisory bodies. But this will be a special one, because it will be listening to people who are the original owners of the land that we share with them.”

Representatives from four Northern Territory Aboriginal land councils met Albanese on Thursday, presenting him with the Barunga voice declaration, signed by Indigenous leaders from the territory in favour of the referendum.

The Northern Land Council chair, Dr Samuel Bush-Blanasi, suggested the voice would help remote communities communicate with government about how to solve problems in education, health and employment.

“Having a voice to parliament will make our lives better,” he said. “We have the right to have a voice. Put your hand where your heart is, and vote yes.”

Allegra Spender, the member for Wentworth and co-convener of the parliamentary friends of the Uluru statement, said she expected the voice would “help me make better decisions” as a politician.

The Tiwi Land Council chair, Gibson Farmer Illortaminni, told Guardian Australia that housing, health and education would be priorities for the voice.

“Canberra has always been telling us what to do. My mum and dad were told what to do, my grandfather and grandmother. Now’s the time we make decisions together,” he said.

“[Canberra] hasn’t heard what we want for our people. They haven’t lived in an Indigenous community. They need to come see what’s happening on the ground, not making a decision in an office, they need to talk to my people.”

In parliament, Dutton was again critical of the government for not publishing more detail on the particulars of the voice, such as how it would function.

“The Australian public is not ready to vote for the voice. The voice hasn’t been explained to them,” he claimed. “It’s a deliberate strategy to starve the Australian people of information.”

Dutton said he expected the referendum to be held on 7 or 14 October. Responding to Dutton, Albanese said: “Something is broken and fixing it should be above politics.”

In question time, Labor members asked questions to ministers about how the voice would benefit their portfolio areas.

The health minister, Mark Butler, told the house about poorer wellbeing and life expectancy for Indigenous people; the education minister, Jason Clare, spoke of boosting school completion.

“If we want it to change, we have to change not just what we do, but the way we do things. That is what the voice is about,” Clare said. “This is about people, not parking tickets. It is not about interest rates.”