‘Politicians hijacked it’: Leading Yes campaigner blames pollies

Leading Yes campaigner Megan Davis has blamed politicians for hijacking the Voice to parliament debate after casting her vote in the historic referendum in Brisbane.

Leading Yes campaigner Megan Davis has blamed politicians for hijacking the Voice to parliament debate after casting her vote in the historic referendum.

Support for the Voice has crumbled in recent months ahead of polls closing on Saturday and the prominent constitutional lawyer in the field of Indigenous recognition said she lamented politicians spoiling the landmark occasion.

“It’s a pity politicians hijacked it,” Professor Davis said of the push for constitutional change that has divided along political lines, with the majority of Labor members supporting the Voice and a prominent portion of LNP opposing it.

“It was never meant to be about Labor, or the Liberal Party or the National Party.

Megan Davis casts her vote on the Voice to Parliament Referendum at Brisbane City Hall. Photo: Ben Fry

“We’re well aware that retail Australian politics has caused the problem — it’s caused the waste, it’s caused the gap, and they’re incapable of resolving it.”

Prof Davis was a key architect in the creation of the Uluru Statement, which she said was deliberately pitched directly to the Australian people to push for First Nations recognition in the Constitution.

“So we lament that they’ve turned it into a typical political issue,” she said.

As voters head to the polls on Saturday, Prof Davis delivered a final pitch urging Australians to understand a vote for No will mean the continuation of issues that unfairly impact First Nations people, such as health, education and incarceration rates.

“It’s a really modest ask of the nation for a huge gain which means better outcomes and better laws,” she said.

“This is about the recognition of Aboriginal cultures that have been on this continent for well over 60,000 years.

“There’s only one provision in the Australian Constitution that speaks to races and that provision applies to us only.

Megan Davis and Pat Anderson casting their votes on the Voice to Parliament Referendum at Brisbane City Hall. Photo: Ben Fry

“The only people the federal parliament ever makes laws for on the basis of races are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and so we say that it’s important to have this Voice enshrined in the Constitution because it allows us to have some input into that federal power.”

Pat Anderson told The Courier-Mail she was awash with emotion as she cast her vote, given the enormity of the work that has culminated in the referendum.

“It was very emotional,” she said. “I didn’t quite expect that I would feel such a mixture of emotions until writing on the ballot paper.”

Aunty Pat said she was frustrated by the No campaign’s strategy to say the Voice would create division.

“It’s really disingenuous to say if you vote Yes, you’re going to divide the country on race because it already is divided,” she said.

“And we can fix this (by voting Yes).”