Research shows voters afraid to question Voice for fear of being called racist

Voters say they are being bullied over the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, and are too afraid to question it for fear of being branded racist, new research has found.

Australians are reluctant to ask questions about the proposed Indigenous Voice to Parliament for fear they will be branded as racist.

Polling conducted for the No campaign reveals many voters feel they are being shamed into silence and won’t engage in debate about the proposal because “they don’t want to be judged to be reactionary or racist”.

The No case was also warned that aggressive attacks on the Voice risk backfiring and strengthening the Yes case.

The research also supports Peter Dutton and the Opposition’s decision to constantly refer to the proposal as one being led by politicians in Canberra.

“Positioning this as ‘Canberra’s Voice to Parliament’ heightens concern that it will be an elite central bureaucracy,” it said.

Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Jeremy Piper

The research, which was conducted by marketing specialist Toby Ralph, tested the responses of voters when propositions about the Voice were placed in front of them.

It comprised 1049 quantitative interviews and 170 qualitative intercept interviews “with most people being very guarded in their reactions, largely this seemed to be because they did not want to appear to be either over-reactionary or more particularly even slightly racist”.

Research supports Peter Dutton’s decision to refer to the Voice proposal as being led by politicians in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Martin Ollman

To win, the research argued, the No campaign would need “a highly disciplined, well-funded campaign” that was ­“respectful, conversational, subtle and avoids any hint of racism” in order to change the “default bias toward endorsement of the Voice to a view that, while well-intentioned, the idea does not merit support yet”.

Voters were also repelled by attacks from Yes campaign advocates that all opposition to the Voice was racist.

“Genuine attacks calling people who question the Voice ‘racist’ shift people toward ‘No’ vote consideration, particularly if met with respectful disagreement,” it found.

“This allows respondents to think that, ‘I’m more like the respectful thinkers of the ‘No’ case, than some one-eyed radicals of the ‘Yes’ case’.”

The research found putting forward Indigenous people who opposed the Voice increased the number of people who were prepared to vote No.

Opposition spokeswoman on Indigenous Affairs Jacinta Price is campaigning for a No vote.

“If these are to be used they must represent the genuine strongly held views of the person, who must also be able to withstand criticism and scrutiny,” it found.

“Indigenous people calling for practical support, not distracting symbolism, is powerful, as is their condemnation of the Voice as ‘ATSIC all over again’.”

The argument that the Voice will have unintended consequences also “becomes more powerful as a vote switcher once people are comfortable that ‘people like me’ and Indigenous Australians have well-founded doubts.”

The polling was conducted for the No case last Decemberand found that when opponents of the Voice used arguments such as ‘one vote, one voice’ and ‘the Voice is apartheid’ they were counter-productive with voters who feared they were racist.

Arguments about the economic impact of the Voice were also problematic for the No case.

And “younger people are more supportive of the Voice and more difficult to shift to no”, it found, adding this had implications for the campaign.

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