The federal Liberal party has lost a frontbencher over its stance on Indigenous recognition. 

Liberal opposition Indigenous spokesperson Julian Leeser has resigned from his frontbench position due to disagreements with party leader Peter Dutton on the Voice to parliament referendum. 

Leeser has been a long-time campaigner for Indigenous constitutional recognition, and he announced his resignation on social media with a press conference in Sydney on Tuesday morning.

Last week, Peter Dutton confirmed that the Liberal Party would campaign for the No case in the upcoming national vote on the Voice to parliament referendum. 

He criticised Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s model, referring to it as an elitist “Canberra Voice” that is incapable of representing regional and remote communities. 

Instead, the Coalition will seek symbolic recognition of Indigenous Australians in the Constitution, as well as the creation of local and regional voice bodies to advise parliament.

The Liberal position would have required Leeser to oppose the Voice as a member of the shadow cabinet. However, on the backbench, he will now be free to support the referendum and campaign for the Yes case.

In his statement, Leeser explained that he had had many respectful discussions with his parliamentary colleagues about the Voice, but ultimately, he had not been able to persuade them. 

He also highlighted the importance of the Liberal Party’s tradition of freedom and conscience, which allows backbenchers to vote on every piece of legislation according to their own conscience.

“I want to assure you that I remain a proud Liberal committed to my party, the people of Berowra, and the leadership of Peter Dutton,” said Leeser. 

“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.”

Although Dutton had conceded last week that a small group of moderate backbenchers would likely break with the party to support the Voice, Leeser’s resignation indicates that the issue remains divisive within the party.