A push from a leading Voice to Parliament opponent to recognise migrants alongside First Nations people in the constitution is a "distraction", according to the peak body for multicultural Australians.
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Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia (FECCA) chair Carlo Carli said Warren Mundine had not spoken with his organisation before linking constitutional recognition for migrants to his anti-Voice campaign.
Mr Mundine, a former ALP president and Liberal Party candidate, made the comments as he helped launch a new committee to steer the No case in the upcoming referendum.
The six-person committee, which includes Nationals senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and former deputy prime minister John Anderson, has unveiled a three-point plan under the slogan "recognise a better way".
The group supports constitutional recognition for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, but through an acknowledgement in the preamble rather than an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
This approach has consistently been rejected by Indigenous leaders.
The committee is also calling for a cross-party parliamentary committee for native holders and support for Aboriginal community-controlled organisations.
Mr Mundine was on Monday arguing that there was no need to enshrine an Indigenous advisory body in the constitution.
"I believe that, especially when we're looking at all the problems we are having at the moment, that they can be sorted out through legislation and ministers getting out there and doing their job," he told ABC's RN Breakfast.
Mr Mundine also doubled-down on comments made to The Guardian over the weekend that migrants deserved constitutional recognition alongside First Nations people.
"I believe we should be recognising First Nations people ... and paying respect to them," he said.
"We should also be recognising the migrants and refugees, other people who have come to this country, escaping war zones ... and contributed to this country and make it such a great country that it is."
In an interview with The Canberra Times, Mr Carli described Mr Mundine's surprise push as a "distraction" and a "red herring".
He said there was merit in discussing the idea of recognising the contribution of migrants, but the Voice to Parliament debate was not the place for it.
Mr Carli - a former Victorian state Labor MP - said the peak body for multicultural Australians has been a consistent supporter of the Voice.
He believed there was a "natural alliance" between migrants, particularly refugees, and First Nations people because of a shared experience with dispossession, trauma and marginalisation.
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But Mr Carli said some migrants weren't aware of the historic and ongoing disadvantage faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, which opponents of the Voice might try and exploit during the campaign.
He said there had been attempts in the past on other issues to pit marginalised groups against each other, creating the false impression that help for one would come at the expense of another.
Mr Carli made clear that he wasn't accusing Mr Mundine of using the tactic in this case, but said it was something groups such as his would be alert to as the referendum campaign heated up.
Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and shadow attorney-general Julian Leeser will on Thursday meet with the government's Indigenous Voice referendum working group as the Liberals continue to demand more detail about the proposal before settling on a position.
While Mr Leeser will attend the briefing in person in Canberra, Mr Dutton will be dialing in from Sydney, where is he reportedly scheduled to attend Cardinal George Pell's funeral on the same day.
