Respected former Labor minister Graham Richardson says he does not support the proposed Indigenous Voice to parliament. Richardson slammed the government’s poor handling of the issue and accused the Albanese government of taking voters for granted.

"I think on this question Labor are way out in front and the country is behind saying ‘where are you blokes going?’ I think they have certainly raced too far, way too quickly,” he said. The former party powerbroker criticised the Albanese government’s reluctance to address genuinely held concerns about the Voice.

“There has been too much taking for granted that all Labor people will just follow the line,” he said.

“But on a question like this, a lot of people have their own views. I’m not keen on the Voice. I never have been. I find myself in that sense in a politically difficult position.”

Richardson’s comments, broadcast on Sky News Australia, come after Opposition leader Peter Dutton accused the government of failing to provide enough detail about the proposed changes to the constitution. Dutton said the government was treating the public “like mugs” and of using a “deliberate, tricky strategy” to “starve” people of information.

In a letter outlining numerous questions about the Voice, Dutton told Albanese he was making “catastrophic mistake not providing accessible, clear, and complete information regarding your government’s version of the Voice.” Rather than address questions about the referendum, which he proposes to hold later this year, the Prime Minister accused Dutton of engaging in “cheap culture war stunts.”