The legislation to set up the referendum on enshrining an Indigenous Voice to Parliament in the constitution has passed the House of Representatives.

The bill still needs to be dealt with by the Senate, which is likely next month, before the federal government sets a date for the poll later this year. 

The final vote in the lower house was 121 in favour of the bill, and 25 against — with the Nationals and a handful of Liberal MPs voting to block the referendum going ahead.

Applause rung out across the House of Representatives after the result was announced.

Liberals who joined their junior Coalition partners in opposing it were former immigration minister Alex Hawke, former speaker Andrew Wallace, Scott Buchholz, Ian Goodenough, Luke Howarth, Tony Pasin, Garth Hamilton, Henry Pike, Rick Wilson and Terry Young.

The Liberals were not prepared to stand in the way of the referendum going ahead, despite their broad opposition to the proposed change to the constitution. 

However, some Liberal MPs needed to vote against the bill to ensure the party had representation on the committee which will draft the formal No campaign's material in a pamphlet to be distributed to households. 

Other Liberals, including Tasmanian backbencher Bridget Archer, have publicly backed the referendum proposal.

Ahead of the final vote, former shadow minister for Indigenous Australians Julian Leeser proposed amendments to "Improve the referendum's chance of success at the ballot box".

Mr Leeser, who quit the Liberal frontbench to back the Voice, wanted references to the Voice advising "Executive government" removed from the proposal put to the Australian public.

"These amendments are not about parliamentary colleagues, they're about securing the support of the Australian people — a majority of Australians, and a majority of Australians in a majority of states," he said.

"A successful referendum requires getting as many Australians as possible to vote 'yes'.

"Winning a referendum is hard, and I want the Voice to win – the alternative is too dreadful to contemplate."

While praising Mr Leeser's support of the Voice, the Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said they were "neither necessary nor desirable".

"It will soon be up to all Australians to make a choice," Mr Dreyfus said.

"It will be up to the Australian people to take the opportunity offered by the Uluru Statement from the Heart in 2017, an opportunity for our nation to do better, to come together, and walk towards a better future."

Independent MP Zoe Daniel said she feared the amendments would make the proposal less palatable to the public.

"I understand the Member's good faith intention to alleviate the concerns of some, but I fear that such a change will undermine the confidence in the point of all of this among all Australians, but particularly First Nations Australians who rightly deserve something more than symbolism."

Fellow independent Andrew Gee, who quit the Nationals over their position on the referendum, agreed that the "Voice is rendered meaningless" if references to "Executive government" were removed.

"If you really want constitutional uncertainty, if you really want constitutional chaos, then take out the very clause which defines the Voice," he said.

The legislation will now be debated in the Senate in June.

Original Story By | Matthew Doran