The campaign for the Indigenous Voice has reached a point of no return after five years of stubborn argument for the peak body to be enshrined in the constitution.
The power and membership of this new group will remain the subject of fierce debate, but the change to the Constitution will be set in cement once the Senate decides on the bill to hold a referendum later this year. The vote is expected from 10am on Monday.
The Resolve Political Monitor has asked 1600 voters the same questions each month over the past three months. The respondents are given the full wording of the government’s proposed change to the constitution and are asked the actual question to be printed on the ballot papers at the referendum. The No case, however, is energised against the Voice. “All Australians have a way of contacting the government. One section should not get extra access,” says one respondent. Another says: “Albanese has been very sly and untrustworthy and will not say what is in it.” A third says: “They will take more land away from us, and get compensation. It breeds resentment.” These are samples from the various views in the latest survey.
The central point is that the objections to this change are formidable. A slick advertising campaign, if it arrives, may not be enough to break down this resistance. While is it true that misinformation will cloud the debate, and it is equally true that politicians and the media should avoid fuelling the falsehoods, there is something deeper at work. Many Australians simply do not want a change of this scale.
Practical change is ultimately about power, and the polls suggest many Australians do not want to give Indigenous people more power. It is too soon to be sure.
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