Julian Leeser, who was the shadow attorney-general and opposition Indigenous Australians spokesman, quit the shadow cabinet to campaign for a ‘yes’ vote.

Leeser remains adamant there is no personal hostilities in the party, saying it’s an issue reasonable Australians can disagree on.

He will push to amend the prime minister’s proposed wording but will support the voice being embedded in the constitution regardless.

“My view is this is something that could benefit Indigenous Australians,” he told Nine’s Today program on Wednesday.

But he said he didn’t think the government had the right model to ensure the best chance of success and would put amendments forward that would make the model more flexible.

Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley said the party’s frontbenchers would still be tied to the ‘no’ position, adding Leeser’s stance was unique due to his role in helping draft the foundations of the voice over the last decade.

“The overwhelming view of our party room is the one that has been put forward right now by Peter Dutton and me,” she told Seven’s Sunrise program.

“We believe in a local and regional voice because we want this to be, if you’d like, bottom-up, not top-down.”

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has said while he respected Leeser’s decision, it was at odds with the “overwhelming majority” of the Liberal party room.

The Liberals are arguing a national voice would add another layer of bureaucracy and not adequately represent the voices of regional and rural communities.

But former Liberal Indigenous Australians minister Ken Wyatt, who was the first Aboriginal person elected to the House of Representatives, hit out at the opposition over claims the voice would be “elitist”.

He said the voice would not be a “Canberra voice” but a grassroots body.

Wyatt resigned from the Liberals last week after the party opted to oppose enshrining a national Indigenous voice in the constitution.

“It was a hard decision, I had to weigh up my love of the Liberal Party and its values and what it stands for against a stubborn position of not wanting to give Aboriginal people a seat at the table,” he told the ABC’s 7.30 program.

“It is about local community designing their regional voice and then the regional voice selecting people they want to represent them in Canberra. It’s not a Canberra voice. It is not elite. It is people from the grassroots.”

Wyatt said the voice being able to advise executive government was critical in having consultation on Indigenous issues before legislation was finalised and presented to parliament.

“This is not a detrimental process. It allows them to sit and put their position to government,” he said.

“It’s too late after a party room, it’s too late after it’s been tabled in parliament.”