Tony Abbott has declined to endorse Noel Pearson's new direction on recognition of indigenous Australians as Aboriginal leaders express alarm that the move could fracture indigenous consensus on the issue.
After Mr Pearson outlined his plan to the Prime Minister in north-east Arnhem Land, Mr Abbott stressed that it was not his role to back any particular proposal.
"My role at the moment is to ensure that, as far as is humanly possible, the necessary debate is conducted in a good spirit, that we don't leap to conclusions, that we don't dig trenches and leap into them prematurely, because this is worth doing but it has to be done in a bipartisan spirit," Mr Abbott said.
Several leaders contacted by Fairfax Media expressed concern that the manner in which Mr Pearson's proposal has emerged risks the very dangers Mr Abbot described.
"This is not a time now for any of us as individuals to go off on tangents to try and position what they believe is the right approach," said Ken Wyatt, the chair of the parliamentary committee charged with the task of drafting a proposed referendum question.
"We've got to get back to the bottom line. This belongs to every Australian and there are other Aboriginal leaders who could come forward with propositions, but they're not. What they are doing is respecting a process.
"What we run the risk of is a division on this issue amongst Aboriginal leadership and in Aboriginal communities."
Mr Wyatt said Mr Pearson had not made a submission to his committee outlining his proposal for a new indigenous body to be recognised under the Constitution to advise parliament and scrutinise legislation, but not have a veto power. The proposal has been backed by constitutional lawyer Greg Craven.
First articulated in a quarterly essay, the idea is an attempt to avoid division over a recommendation to include in the referendum question a prohibition on racial discrimination.
Both Mr Pearson and Mr Wyatt were members of the expert panel set up by the Gillard government to advise on recognition, and their report followed intense consultations across the country.
The panel's report recommends that any significant departure from the model it proposes would need to go back to indigenous communities for discussion before being finalised.
A co-chair of the expert panel, Patrick Dodson, urged Mr Pearson and others to follow the process and put any recommendations to the parliamentary committee chaired by Mr Wyatt, with Labor's Nova Peris as deputy chair.
"Anyone who has a view, whether it's Mr Pearson or Mr Craven or whoever, should be putting their views to that parliamentary committee - and let that committee weigh the merits of what they have to say," Mr Dodson said.
At a meeting at Gulkula on Wednesday night, Tanya Hosch, the joint campaign director for Recognise, the movement backing recognition, stressed the importance of a consolidated indigenous position on the question.
Speaking to reporters before leaving Yirrkala on Thursday, Mr Abbott said the priority was to decide on a timetable and process "and then let's see where the debate goes".
"The 1967 referendum was a great unifying moment," Mr Abbott said. "I think this can be an even more significant unifying moment, but it's not going to be a unifying moment if people suddenly start raising one standard and criticising another standard."
Although Mr Wyatt said the parliamentary committee had been urged to recommend holding the referendum "sooner rather than later", he said his personal view favoured holding it in 2017, the 50th anniversary of the 1967 referendum.
