Australian Prime Minister Abbott delivers remarks at a national memorial service in Melbourne
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott delivers remarks at a national memorial service for the victims of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 at St Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne August 7, 2014. Australia held a national day of mourning on Thursday for its citizens killed in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in Ukraine last month, even as Russia said it was ratcheting up its response to Western sanctions imposed over the disaster. REUTERS/Mark Dadswell

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said that the referendum in the constitution for the recognition of indigenous Australians would not take place in 2016. Abbott said that he would prefer the federal election not being affected by the bipartisan Recognise campaign.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, both the prime minister and the leader of the opposition are in favour of Aboriginal Australians being formally recognised in the constitution. However, it did not happen in 2012 as there was a lack of awareness regarding the issue. There was also a proposal for a breakdown in support for the technical wording. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten had a private meeting with Abbott as both agreed to make sure that there was bipartisan support for the referendum.

There were media reports earlier which claimed that Abbott was in favour of holding the referendum in 2017. The Aussie PM, on the other hand, clarified that he would not want it to be held in 2016. "I think it's going to be difficult to run a bipartisan referendum campaign in conjunction with a highly partisan election campaign. That's why I don't think it is really that sensible to have the referendum at the time of the next election," he said, "If we rush prematurely into naming dates, into deciding what the proposal will be, I think we cruel our pitch, I think we jeopardise our chances of getting it all through."

Indigenous Liberal MP Ken Wyatt chaired the parliamentary committee which earlier recommended the referendum to be held by the end of 2016. Abbott said that an election would be the "most partisan exercise" one could imagine. Even though Abbott does not mind listening to the Wyatt committee's perspective, he is probably not going to agree on the time line, according to the Herald Sun. Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion earlier said that the chance of success for the referendum might be low at present as the public awareness was pretty low.

Labor Northern Territory Senator Nova Peris earlier talked to Fairfax Media. He said that the opposition had the conviction that the recognition should be achieved before the coming election. However, Peris said that it would be more important to get it right than to rush it.

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au