A legislated voice isn’t just a terrible idea, it’s a direct assault on democratic values
Penny Wong’s comments on the Voice reveal she’s all too willing to disregard the will of the Australian people.
Opinion
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Penny Wong has let the cat out of the bag; Labor is committed to resurrecting the Indigenous Voice to parliament.
And, next time around they may bypass the Australian people, and the democratic process, and implement a legislated Voice along with other recommendations in the Uluru Statement.
The Coalition has failed to properly articulate the dangers posed by a second-term Albanese government.
They have also failed to differentiate themselves from Labor on key policy areas from energy to population to critical cultural issues like the racial politics of the Left.
It was just over 18 months ago when Australians delivered a clear message with more than 60 per cent, including a majority in every state, voting against the Voice.
It was a landslide, a far more emphatic result than one we will see at the polls on Saturday. And yet, Labor has not respected the will of the Australian people.
They have continued to push ahead with a divisive race agenda and see an Indigenous voice to parliament as inevitable.
“I think we’ll look back on it in 10 years’ time and it’ll be a bit like marriage equality,” Foreign Minister Wong said.
“I always used to say, marriage equality, which took us such a bloody fight to get that done, and I thought, all this fuss. It’ll become something, it’ll be like, people go ‘did we even have an argument about that?’”
Wong, of all people, using same sex marriage as an analogy for the Voice beggars belief.
For one, marriage equality was about homosexuals having the same rights to marriage as heterosexuals.
It was about equality not elevating one group above others with additional rights.
Additionally, Wong as an openly gay woman displayed a complete lack of principle in opposing same sex marriage until it was politically convenient.
When Wong was climate change minister – and Australia’s first openly homosexual cabinet minister – in the Gillard government, she argued against same sex marriage saying she respected Labor’s view that it was an institution between a man and a woman.
‘‘On the issue of marriage I think the reality is there is a cultural, religious, historical view around that which we have to respect,’’ Wong said back in 2010.
‘‘The party’s position is very clear that this is an institution that is between a man and a woman.’’
In the end, the Australian people voted for same sex marriage in a plebiscite just as they voted against the Voice in a referendum.
A legislated voice isn’t just a terrible idea, it’s a direct assault on democratic values.
It’s the sort of authoritarianism that has no place in Australia.
We don’t want another expensive, divisive referendum and we certainly do not want a backdoor path to implement what the people rejected.
One cannot underestimate the ideological zealotry of the race-obsessed.
The activist class, together with the bulk of the media, academia, celebrity and political class, will continue to push for policies that are at odds with mainstream Australian values whether it’s the Voice and treaty or issues around radical gender theory.
The Voice wasn’t just another policy debate. It was framed by the Left as a defining moment in the nation’s history.
The ‘yes’ campaign had every advantage including an enormous war chest that dwarfed the relatively meagre resources of the ‘no’ camp.
The pro-Voice side was heavily backed by big corporations, sporting leagues including every football club along with a host of celebrities. You could not go into a supermarket without being accosted with pro-voice propaganda.
Many in the mainstream media worked overtime to frame opposition to the voice as borne of bigotry or ignorance.
But still, Australians said no. And said no emphatically.
Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has hit out at Wong and Labor for not being frank with voters.
“That is a kick in the guts, it demonstrates how deceitful Labor are, they don’t respect the outcome (of the referendum),” she said on Thursday.
“They have never been straightforward about their commitment to the Uluru Statement, which has three components: the voice, treaty and truth.
“They put aside $27m in a contingency account, so that tells me they absolutely have plans for things like the Makarrata Commission. It’s still all on the table.”
Senator Wong signifies so much that is wrong with the modern Left in this country.
She may think of herself as a moral compass of Australian politics but the reality is she’s an elitist all too willing to disregard the will of the Australian people.
Originally published as A legislated voice isn’t just a terrible idea, it’s a direct assault on democratic values
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