Peta Credlin: Millions voted No to keep Australia united

Launching a referendum campaign without a clear message beyond it’s ‘the right thing to do’ was the most reckless political adventure we have ever seen, and Australians responded with a resounding No, writes Peta Credlin.

On Sunday morning we wake up and remain, in Bob Hawke’s immortal words, a country with “no hierarchy of descent” and “no privilege of origin” thanks to the commonsense (and courage) of the Australian people who, despite everything that was thrown at them, voted to keep our constitution colour blind and our country united.

The millions of us who turned out to vote “No” voted “yes’” for Australia’s continuing place as a nation where all citizens are equal regardless of race, gender or religion.

And never has that equality been more fundamental to humanity than after the events of recent days in Israel.

Voting “No” was not a vote against Aboriginal people in any way; it was a vote FOR Australia.

After all, the main leaders of the “No” campaign against the Voice were Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Warren Mundine, two proud Aboriginal people who were no less proud of their Australian identity and who couldn’t see the sense of dividing one country into two (or more) peoples.

Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price in Alice Springs this week. Picture: Pin Rada

The “No” verdict was also a protest against woke overreach, with particular implications for the ABC, the corporate sector, universities, and even some religious bodies, that are clearly out of touch with their audience, customers, students and congregants.

There’s little doubt that many “No” voters wanted to send government the message “stick to core business”, and to rebel against encroachments on free speech, besides just the violation of constitutional equality inherent in the Voice.

Certainly, the heartland of Australia has had enough of tokenism and ineffective programs which spend billions on Aboriginal disadvantage with little accountability and without making much of a difference.

If there is one thing that has come out of this campaign, it is the light that’s been shone on the “Aboriginal economy”, where billions are spent with the goodwill of taxpayers for very little benefit on the ground, in communities where the need is real.

From here on in, Australians will demand their funding is properly audited and evidence produced to show outcomes are met.

What this campaign has also shown is that when the Coalition is prepared to stand against the tide on a matter of great principle, if they can argue it with conviction, they can turn public opinion.

Although the next election will be fought on very different issues, the result should buoy Peter Dutton, who showed considerable character backing the “No” case when it was still overwhelmingly unpopular and with a split shadow cabinet.

There’s really only one big loser here, and that’s the Prime Minister, who should never have sponsored a half-baked and obviously divisive proposal on such a sensitive topic.

There’s no tradition in this country of PMs resigning after losing referenda, as David Cameron did in the UK after losing the Brexit vote, but there probably should be.

Make no mistake, a PM who’s made such a monumental misjudgment really will struggle to regain his political authority. At least with the Labor hard heads, he will pay a heavy price for ignoring the standard wisdom on how to successfully tackle constitutional change, and his obsession with this Voice, to the exclusion of much else, has left many households doing it tough rightly feeling abandoned.

We know that many people who started out with goodwill, ultimately had massive reservations about a proposal with no detail, particularly when it was exposed as being about a lot more than mere “recognition”.

The PM’s refusal to seriously engage with them and to address those quite reasonable concerns was a huge mistake and, in retrospect, one of the key moments of the campaign.

Peter Dutton proved he can make tough decisions and stick with them. Picture: John Feder

Launching a referendum campaign without a clear message beyond it’s “the right thing to do” was the most reckless political adventure we have ever seen in Australia, especially as the idea that Aboriginal people had no voice and weren’t listened to was palpably false, given the visibility of strong Indigenous voices like Price, Mundine, even Lidia Thorpe.

As strong as this result is, Saturday’s victors shouldn’t overreact either.

For both sides of politics, the central challenge remains cost of living in the short term and economic and national security in the longer term.

But, that is not to discount the heavy element of woke-rejection that underpins this result and that was picked up in polling booths right across the country.

Mr Dutton, at least, has now proved that he’s capable of making a tough decision and prosecuting it to a successful political conclusion.

On energy, workplace relations and environmental regulation — as well as on defence — he’ll have to make many more before he’s really arrived as an alternative PM.

And he’ll have to drop any further thought of legislated regional and local voices that always looked more like a sop to the Liberal left than a well-thought-through policy. Having beaten a constitutional voice, it would be disrespectful to voters to bring in mini-voices by the back door.

Given the emphatic result, the Coalition must listen to what Australians have said in clear and certain terms.

On Indigenous policy, the way forward is much wider consultation than with the current, and now somewhat discredited, Aboriginal elite establishment.

All the empty symbolism has been rejected too, like the flying of the Aboriginal flag co-equally with our one and only national flag, as if the flag of some of us can ever be equal to the flag of all of us.

The emphasis has to be on more effective ways to get kids to school, adults to work, and keep communities safe. And to break down the “them and us”, “country and culture” separatism that’s bedevilled closing the gap for decades.

Above all, Australians have rejected the politics of race and division. This was a vote for a united Australia. And once again, the Australian people have got it right.