Rudd offers to team up with Abbott on Indigenous recognition

Kevin Rudd may now be from New York, but when it comes to Indigenous recognition he's here to help.

The former Labor prime minister has urged Prime Minister Scott Morrison to conscript him into a campaign to enshrine an Indigenous voice in the constitution.

And Mr Rudd has gone further, suggesting that Mr Morrison also bring a potent posse of former PMs to the cause.

"Use [Tony] Abbott, use me, use anybody who's previously been prime minister to go and fashion a consensus for Indigenous Australians and with the other constituencies in this country, and bring something forward which can work, for Indigenous people first and foremost but also the community at large," he said.

"Let us get this behind us and done so that we can have constitutional recognition of our first people. It ain't that hard folks."

But Mr Rudd's advice to the Prime Minister might go unheeded because Mr Morrison has previously ruled out constitutionally enshrining an Indigenous voice.

Speaking at the Canberra Writers' Festival, Mr Rudd struck out at those in the Liberal Party who had described the concept — as recommended by hundreds of Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander people in the Uluru statement — a "third chamber" of Parliament.

"The critique from the far right that the voice represents a de facto third chamber in the Australian Parliament is just bullshit, it's just bullshit," he said.

"And the reason is, the Senate and the House of Representatives legislate, the proposed voice does not. It is advisory, that's the difference.

"So when [Home Affairs Minister Peter] Dutton and the rest of the far-right nut jobs go round there and describe this as a third chamber, it is a lie, a bald-faced lie.

"So what I'd say to Mr Morrison, having been so non-partisan in my previous remarks just now, is ignore Dutton, define your own legacy and this can be part of it. To get this done could be done well by a conservative government.

"It ain't that hard folks. And Mr Morrison would be well remembered in Australian political history if he could do this.

"It will require some leadership from ScoMo, though, to negotiate the right-wing fringe of his own political movement."

Drawing his own experience as prime minister, Mr Rudd said he had anticipated a "massive racist reaction" when he gave his apology to the Stolen Generations in 2008.

"So I was braced. But guess what? The nation came with us," he said.

"The nation will come with us on this, too, if we can just take a deep breath, suspend normal political position taking and I'd be the first to congratulate Scott Morrison if he did it."

Mr Morrison has already made clear that he does not support constitutionally enshrining an Indigenous advisory body, which he also once described a "third chamber".

"I am a constitutional conservative on these issues which comes as no surprise," Mr Morrison said last month.

"The Liberal, National parties are constitutional conservatives on these issues. But there is a willingness to engage the point on recognition."