The Project’s Waleed Aly slammed after saying Voice no voters uneducated

A Western Sydney mayor has angrily hit back at Waleed Aly after The Project host claimed no voters in the Voice referendum were less-educated people who simply didn’t understand the issue.

A Western Sydney mayor has hit back at Waleed Aly after The Project host claimed the overwhelming no vote in the Voice referendum was fuelled by less-educated people who simply didn’t understand the issue.

The failed referendum was a hammer blow for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, with Australians returning a no vote of more than 60 per cent.

Waleed shared his insights into the failed referendum on Monday night’s The Project.

“It ends up being the elite argument. The more elite sector of society the more likely you were to vote Yes,” he said.

“The biggest dividing line seems to have been education. If you were in a seat with high levels of tertiary education, bachelor or post you were at the very top end of the ‘Yes’ vote.

Waleed Aly and Sarah Harris discuss the referendum result on The Project.

“If you had the lowest levels of socioeducation you were at the low end of the ‘Yes’ vote.

“I can totally see why you would propose it, if you go through the history, the experience of the people who came up with the idea, it actually makes perfect sense.

“But most people have not been on that journey. When you come to them with this idea that’s quite abstract and complicated, they’re going to respond with an instinct. That instinct is, it doesn’t feel right.”

Just 10 federal electorates in NSW returned a majority yes vote compared to 37 jurisdictions saying no.

Liverpool Mayor Ned Mannoun slammed Waleed Aly for his “disrespectful” comments about No voters. Picture: Daily Telegraph / Monique Harmer

Waleed Aly has come under fire for labelling no voters as less educated. Supplied: Network Ten

The most telling loss for the yes campaign was in Western Sydney, a belt of about 10 federal electorates considered to be Labor heartland and home to the working-class Aussie battlers referenced by Aly in his analysis of the referendum result.

Liverpool mayor Ned Mannoun blasted The Project host’s comments on Tuesday morning, calling them “disrespectful”.

“People here are very intelligent, they get what’s going on and there are multiple reasons why they didn’t support the Voice and it wasn’t because of education levels,” Mr Mannoun said to Ben Fordham on 2GB.

Mr Mannoun said Western Sydney voters turned their back on supporting the Voice for a number of reasons, which included that the referendum lacked detail and sense.

NSW’s overall no vote came in at 59.61 per cent.

The Project viewers were quick to slam Aly for stereotyping no voters on education.

While most electorates in NSW to vote yes were considered affluent and well-educated, many viewers of The Project pointed out the proposal of a Voice to Parliament just wasn’t an issue that resonated with voters battling a cost-of-living crisis.

As our leaders begin to dissect why the Voice to Parliament referendum failed, Steve Price and our panel discuss why they think it was unsuccessful. pic.twitter.com/p7qiHi1Trj

— The Project (@theprojecttv) October 16, 2023

“People with real world problems said NO. People with first world problems said YES,” @wolfjas said on X, formerly Twitter.

“Waffling Waleed.....loves the sound of his own patronising voice,” @suzanne2222 said.

“Who does he think he is? I heard yes leaders who couldn’t articulate beyond race and no leaders who made up stuff instead of presenting a constitutional argument. There was complexity and inadequacy on both sides but claiming education levels drove intention is a stretch,” Andrew Thiseby said on X.

Commentary around the pressures faced by Western Sydney families were mirrored by economists and business leaders who urged the Albanese government to get back to business and focus cost of living crisis now the Voice referendum was over.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese needs to put more focus on the cost of living crisis. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Economists were united in calling for a renewed focus on getting inflation under control and addressing a devastating housing shortage after the Coalition accused Mr Albanese of pursuing the Voice to Parliament at the expense of addressing cost of living pressures.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton on Sunday accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of being so obsessed with his “Canberra Voice” that he has “ignored the difficult cost of living pressures facing Australian families”.

“The Prime Minister has forgotten his roots,” Mr Dutton told The Daily Telegraph.

Originally published as The Project’s Waleed Aly slammed after saying Voice no voters uneducated