The Liberal Party’s Shadow Indigenous Australians spokesman and Attorney-General Julian Leeser has defied Dutton’s leadership decision to support the ‘No’ campaign and instead quit the frontbench to join the ‘Yes’ case.

Good riddance. He has been holding Dutton back from principled conservative decisions for far too long. Besides, when you’re being praised by Albanese – Australia’s least talented globe-trekking carbon-excess albatross – you know you’ve picked the wrong political hill to fight on.

According to the ABC:

Leeser said during a press conference that he resigned without “rancour or bitterness” but on a “point of principle” after he and the party came to different decisions on the Voice.

He said he has had many “respectful discussions” with Parliamentary colleagues about the Voice where he has listened to their views and they had heard his but ultimately he “could not persuade them”.

Leeser added:

‘I want to be able to say to my children in the future that “your father stood up for something he believes in” and that’s really important and something all of us should do.’

Which is odd, because many Indigenous voices are standing against the proposed Voice to Parliament (the Canberra Voice, as Dutton calls it), in order to prevent racial privilege and segregation polluting Australia’s proud and equal democratic system. Many see Albanese’s Voice as a cheap political regression – a depressing bending of the knee to Marxist agitators, and a beginning of the same tribal identity politics that has sent nations down a very dark path.

It is bizarre to see conservative MPs stand on the side of racial segregation or to (even passingly) attach value to race in the conversation of politics. Conservatives are the champions of individual worth, personal achievement, and merit. They are the party of equality, not equity.

Liberal Leader Peter Dutton’s decision to say ‘No’ to a permanent racial divide enshrined in the Constitution was met with relief by blue-ribbon voters, most of whom want nothing to do with the sort of toxic race politics presently eating away at New Zealand.

The ‘No’ campaign, championed by well-respected Indigenous voices such as Northern Territory Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Nyunggai Warren Mundine, appears to be the dominant public sentiment outside the activist hub of Canberra. The potential for the Voice to divide Australia is enormous. No one wants to be a second class citizen in their own country or listen to passive-aggressive language that suggests they are squatters, guests, and thieves, as the Pay the Rent movement shout on the street.

Albanese remains unable to offer anything other than a racial argument rooted in historic revenge politics, rather than a detailed plan for the future improvement of people’s lives. His tearful pleas serve as little more than camouflage for a potentially ruinous political idea.

It should be noted that Dutton is still campaigning to include a Constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians, but – crucially – not a race-selected political body.

Dutton has politely thanked Leeser for his hard work, but he was probably breathing a sigh of relief, as Dutton is now free to find a much better fit in someone, such as Senator Price, who has the required experience of remote Indigenous communities. To be frank, Leeser was always a bizarre choice for the role of Shadow Indigenous Australians spokesman.

‘Our determination is to make sure that we have local and regional voices, as we want to listen to those people in the communities that offer the best possible outcome for them. The Canberra Voice will not deliver that outcome,’ insisted Dutton.

Dutton is also being careful not to empower radicalised Marxist voices which are clawing at Australia’s government.

Leeser continued:

‘[The Voice] was about creating a new structure to improve outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Australians – and it was about finding common ground. My resignation as a frontbencher is not about personality, it’s about keeping faith with an issue that I have been working on for almost a decade.

‘I’ve also tried to keep faith with my Liberal values, my desire to conserve our institutions like the Australian Constitution.’

Has anyone asked Leeser why race-based bodies are not working right now? There are thousands of similar bodies already in existence operating at huge expense and the problem, if anything, has gotten worse since the arrival of victimhood activism. There is no detail to back up the emotion. No evidence, of any kind, that sacrificing the sanctity of equality for all citizens is purchasing anything other than political power for activist elites.

When you start asking questions such as, ‘What sort of racial test will be required to join the Indigenous Voice?’ you know full well that civilisation is on the wrong track, because no person should ever be using their race as a qualifier inside democracy.

‘As a Liberal, I believe in the dignity of every Australian – in what can be achieved when they are affirmed, valued, and empowered.’

Affirmative race-based Marxist identity politics? Sorry Leeser, you’re in the wrong party.

Leeser’s decision was inevitable and his departure may be for the best. Dutton needs a strong team behind him that is prepared to champion the values of conservative politics – foremost among them being the unshakeable principle of equality amongst all Australians, regardless of their race.

Dutton knows that Australia cannot maintain its status as the most multicutlural nation on Earth if the government ranks the quality of voices via genetic ancestry. With over $44 billion a year spent on Indigenous activism that never seems to ‘close the gap’ or help those in rural communities who need it most, there is no appetite in the wider community for another expensive racial body.

Worse, recent decisions by state governments to lock Australians out of public national parks due to their race is souring opinion toward activist organisations, who are increasingly playing the race card to justify very nasty discrimination against non-Indigenous Australians.

Albanese’s position is to permanently divide. Dutton’s is to unite. If Leeser wishes to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Labor and its race politics, so be it. He is no loss.