Prime Minister Tony Abbott has indicated he's prepared to delay the proposed referendum on the constitutional recognition of indigenous Australians to maximise it's chances of success.
The government is yet to "crystalise (a) course forward" on the issue, Mr Abbott has told the Weekend Australian in an interview marking one year in office.
"It needs to be at a time that maximises its chance to pass and maximises its chance to be a great unifying moment for our country," Mr Abbott said.
But he's warned against it becoming a de facto bill of rights, saying this could doom it to failure.
The prime minister also conceded the need for more political consensus to achieve reform.
"In order to have significant change there has got to be, if not agreement, at least some elements of a consensus," he said, discussing future reforms like tax and the federation.
"You can't expect to get total agreement, but there has to be at least some elements of consensus if you are going to get significant reform."
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann says Mr Abbott's comments show how providing good government is a big job.
"There are many stakeholders involved, it's a big team we're obviously always reflecting on how we can do the job that we are doing better," he told Sky News.
"But reflecting on the year that's just been, if you look at the outcomes of what we've achieved in the context of what we said we would ... then you would have to say that we are on track to deliver what we said we would deliver."
Mr Abbott says he is reasonably confident that a "very substantial" part of the government's major measures would be implemented, if not as they were initially proposed.
"In worthwhile ways we can say we are changing our country."
A joint select committee on constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples has been accepting submissions and holding public hearings on a referendum on Indigenous Constitutional Recognition.
The closing date for submissions is October 30 2014.
Share
