Countdown to 2023 Voice referendum on the Coffs Coast
With just days remaining until the Voice referendum, the ‘Yes’ camp on the Coffs Coast remains upbeat – despite polling indicating the question will be rejected. See why.
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Saturday is D-Day for the referendum on an Indigenous advisory Voice to the federal parliament.
The local federal electorate of Cowper which takes in the Coffs Coast is traditionally conservative, but ‘Yes’ supporters are steadfast in their belief the question will be carried.
That is despite a series of nationwide polling suggesting the vote will fail to get the absolute majority needed to push it over the line.
The latest Roy Morgan poll revealed 46 per cent of Australians intend to vote ‘No’, while 37 per cent of people would vote Yes and 17 per cent of voters remain undecided.
Victoria and Tasmania are the only states where people are inclined to vote Yes in the referendum.
Queensland saw the largest amount of No responses.
The majority of men across the country say they are against the Voice – citing fears of losing land, according to the results.
On the Coffs Coast, the No campaign has been all but invisible, while those pushing for a Yes have organised grassroot community cluster groups – at Coffs Harbour, Woolgoolga, Bellingen and in the Nambucca Valley.
Anita Tang, convener Coffs and Surrounds for Yes, believes everything is to go-for given so many people have identified as undecided.
“Our group and many others like us, will continue to speak to as many people as possible in the remaining days, to ensure that people have access to straightforward and factual information,” she said.
“We know that there are many people who haven’t yet turned their mind to the referendum, or who find the media and social media coverage of the more polarising aspects of the campaign confusing.
“When given the opportunity to ask questions, receive answers and to think through the implications, many of the undecided voters realise that the referendum is simply about recognition and about listening, things that nearly everyone thinks are good things.”
The question being put to the electorate is: A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. Do you approve this proposed alteration?
Bob Boughton, co-convener Woolgoolga and Surrounds for Yes, said the value of Indigenous people having a Voice was borne out during Covid.
“If you look for reasons to vote Yes, you start with the opportunity to directly connect our constitution to 65,000 years of history on this ancient continent,” he said.
“Listening to Aboriginal Medical Services (during the pandemic) saved hundreds of lives compared to what had been projected.”
Opposition leader Peter Dutton has been among those calling for a no vote.
“A Voice will not deliver the change and improvements we all desire. The Voice will be more Canberra bureaucracy which hoovers up more taxpayer dollars which gives more of a platform to activists,” Mr Dutton said.
“If the referendum is successful, only then will the government spend six months working out the details. If you want to alter our constitution, details should come before the vote, not the vote before the details.”
Bellingen Shire for Yes spokesperson Chris Marks said the demographic make-up of the Coffs Coast had changed markedly, giving her hope the referendum might be carried locally.
“In 1967 this area had the highest No vote in that referendum in NSW. I think there has been a presumption that conservatism will mean a No in this referendum too,” she said.
“This totally misses the increased diversity of the area and the progress in social change that has arisen from a very active First People’s presence on Gumbaynggirr country and increased refugee settlement as well as increased migration.”
Nambucca Valley for Yes convener Dinah Eadie believes the polling on the referendum may not reflect voters’ intentions.
“I think No voters are in the minority, but it is a very noisy minority who, as Professor Megan Davis said, are getting 80 per cent of the media coverage.”
In total, 17.6 million Australians are enrolled to vote in the 2023 referendum – the largest enrolment in the nation’s history.
Voting is compulsory for those eligible. See where you can vote here.
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