Aboriginal leader Noel Pearson has blasted the "child soldiers" of the Institute of Public Affairs for campaigning against an Indigenous voice to Parliament and spreading "lies" about how it would operate.

Mr Pearson, who founded the Cape York Institute for Policy and Leadership, accused the libertarian think tank of dispatching young men to tear down the proposed voice, a major recommendation of the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart on reconciliation.

Cape York leader Noel Pearson lashed opponents of the Indigenous voice at the Garma Festival in Arnhem Land. Credit:Teagan Glenane / Yothu Yindi Foundation

The IPA – which has close links with the Liberal Party and counts many MPs as members – is opposed to an Indigenous voice to Parliament, whether it is in inserted into the constitution or only in legislation.

Its representatives – many of whom are white men in their 20s and early 30s – travelled to Canberra last week to lobby against the proposal, meeting with about two dozen Coalition MPs and distributing an as-yet-unpublished research paper on the subject.