Anthony Albanese has emphatically predicted Australia will vote Yes in the Voice referendum as Penny Wong revealed her distress at witnessing “racism” in what she called the worst public discourse since the Mabo debate.

The pair’s comments, made at a dinner last week, have been revealed in a secret recording.

Addressing Labor’s Socialist Left leadership in Brisbane, Albanese declared his loyalty to the faction, promising he would return to it once his prime ministership ended.

Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese addressed a Left faction meeting last week. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen and Rhett Wyman

In declarative comments that indicate confidence about the referendum, the prime minister predicted the Yes case for constitutional change would succeed, telling his audience at Brisbane’s Howard Smith Wharves last Thursday night: “I firmly believe that not only can we, we will seize the opportunity and vote Yes.”