Qld’s first Indigenous female MP Leeanne Enoch details horrific abuse

Pioneering MP Leeanne Enoch has revealed the Voice to parliament referendum has triggered a surge in racially charged abuse, as she faces down the prospect of the ‘yes’ vote failing.

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Queensland’s first Indigenous female MP says the Voice to parliament referendum has invoked an unprecedented surge in racist abuse.

State government minister Leeanne Enoch has revealed a horrific rise in racially charged and misogynistic attacks piled on her in recent weeks, blaming no campaigners for clouding the debate with toxicity and misinformation.

She told The Sunday Mail she was staggered by the deterioration of public discussion and questioned why a disturbed portion of the population had suddenly been given the green light to inflict abuse.

The proud Quandamooka woman, a prominent and active yes supporter, said the nature of the campaigning has provoked behaviour “that wouldn’t normally be acceptable in public”.

“We’re seeing behaviours and attitudes where normally people will pull themselves into check but they seem to be feeling like they can go outside the bounds of what would be their normal behaviour,” she said.

“Last week I received an email from a constituent who I’ve known for quite some time.”

Leeanne Enoch has been a vocal yes campaigner. Picture: Steve Pohlner

Ms Enoch said she was too perturbed to reveal the extent of the letter’s content but said it included details about her deceased dad in an unusual insistence to reconsider her support for the Voice.

“He’d never met my father and doesn’t know anything about my father, but he felt compelled to write to me about my dead father,” she said.

The Palaszczuk government minister said this email was just one correspondence in a torrent of abuse engulfing her officer’s communication platforms.

The night before Ms Enoch spoke with The Sunday Mail this week, she said her team was compelled to report another message through formal channels due to the extremity of its content.

“That happens every now and again over the course of a term but that just seems to be ramping up,” she said.

“I’m all about being part of a community, being part of the great state of Queensland and a great country called Australia, and that’s what I spend my time focusing on.

“So it is upsetting when you get these kinds of messages that say really hateful things that are not necessary in a normal grown up country when we’re having a conversation about what our constitution should look like and how it should reflect our true identity.”

Ms Enoch was the first Indigenous woman elected to Queensland parliament. Picture: Liam Kidston.

The dialogue surrounding the Voice was friendly and constructive at the beginning of the year, according to Ms Enoch, before descending into negativity with misinformation which she said coincided with the federal Opposition falling behind the no movement.

“Leading into Christmas, it was all very positive,” she said.

“And then as soon as we saw the Opposition decided to be on the side of no and the political elements of the discussion came to the fore, we started to see this deterioration of how we have conversations in this country.”

In the weeks leading into the October 14 referendum, polls suggest support for the yes movement has steadily fallen as Ms Enoch felt a growing sense of vulnerability for her wider community.

She said the prospect of the population deciding on an outcome focused on less than 4 per cent of the nation was daunting.

“That’s a big thing,” the Minister for Treaty and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships said.

“And you can imagine that if it is a resounding no, how that will feel for the less than 4 per cent of the population to be amongst their own communities knowing the Australian people decided as a whole on whether Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be recognised in the constitution by a simple advisory group.

“That’ll be a lot to digest.”

Ms Enoch said the progression of Indigenous affairs through awareness and empowered speech culminated in the Uluru Statement from the Heart – the framework for the Voice to parliament proposal.

This progressing movement will be forced into a “moment of pause and reflection” if the no vote succeeds, but she defiantly declared “the movement will continue”.

“Regardless of the outcome, there will still be the need to do this work – you cannot have a portion of your country experiencing the incredible disadvantage (shown) in closing the gap data and just stand by and think that’s fine,” Ms Enoch said.

“We will still have to do this work.”