Constitutional recognition of indigenous people will fail unless there's a broad consensus for change and that is imperilled by Labor's talk of a treaty, the attorney-general says.
Senator George Brandis said the government was committed to constitutional recognition which could only be achieved through support of a majority of Australians and states at a referendum.
Convincing Australians to change the constitution was difficult, with just eight successful referenda out of 44 since federation.
Senator Brandis said what Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said this week was reckless and dangerous.
Mr Shorten brought indigenous reconciliation into the election campaign on Monday, saying Australia needs to start talking about a possible treaty with Aboriginals once they are recognised in the constitution.
"Do I think we need to move beyond just constitutional recognition to talking about what a post-constitutional recognition settlement with indigenous people looks like - yes I do," he said on the ABC Q and A program.
That was backed by the prime minister's key indigenous adviser Warren Mundine, a former Labor national president, who said it was possible for the nation to "chew gum and breathe at the same time", discussing both constitutional recognition and a treaty.
Senator Brandis said conservative Australians were concerned at the idea of a treaty, whereas up to now the discussion had only been about constitutional recognition.
"If we are to bring conservative Australians with us on this journey, then what we have to do is embrace a proposal that they can accept," he said.
Unless there was broad community acceptance of the proposal put to the Australian people, it would fail.
"As night follows day, it will fail and that would be a tragedy," Senator Brandis said.
Cabinet minister Mathias Cormann believes Labor has created another dimension of risk to constitutional recognition of Australia's indigenous people by proposing a treaty.
Senator Cormann said history showed the way to achieve constitutional change was by having strong bipartisan support to overcome the hesitancy of voters.
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