A leading architect of the Indigenous voice proposal has accused Opposition Leader Peter Dutton of pushing a race-based argument he promised he would avoid.
Prominent 'yes' campaigner Noel Pearson said Mr Dutton had previously assured him he did not take the voice to be a racial proposition
Mr Pearson said he was therefore disappointed when the opposition leader made a speech to parliament in which he controversially said the voice would "re-racialise" Australia and create a situation in which some people were more equal than others.
"The disappointing thing about the position taken by Peter Dutton is that I met with him two or three times with (former shadow attorney-general) Julian Leeser," the Indigenous campaigner told Sky News.
"At those meetings, Peter was very, very clear in what he said to me. He said, 'I do not agree with the race argument, don't take me to be making a race argument here'."
Mr Pearson said Mr Dutton was being "duplicitous" in now taking a different position.
"He's come back to make this completely dishonest argument about re-racialising the constitution," he said.
"That is not the position Peter took to me when Julian Leeser was in the room."
Mr Leeser quit the opposition front bench in order to support a 'yes' campaign for the voice after the federal Liberal Party decided not to back the voice.
AAP has contacted Mr Dutton's office for comment.
Mr Pearson's scathing remarks come as several senior Liberals from across Australia launched a campaign for a 'yes' vote in the upcoming referendum.
The "Liberals for Yes" group said it would be active across all states and territories in the months ahead of the referendum, which is expected to be held between October and December.
Former ACT chief minister Kate Carnell will act as national convenor for the campaign, which she said was based on strong community feedback.
"We aim to help empower all Australians, and especially Liberals, to be confident and active in supporting the broader 'yes' movement, which is fundamentally about people and not politics," she said.
"We recognise and respect that there are a range of views both within the party and the wider community but we are united in our belief that this referendum can be a moment that brings Australians together."
