Jeff Kennett: The referendum failed for two fundamental reasons

The public has an ingrained distrust of politicians – so for the Prime Minister to put up a proposal with the “trust me” concept was never going to go down well.

The public has voted.

In the exercise of the most important aspect of our democracy, the right of the public to have a say, they have said no to the proposal put to us by the Prime Minister.

The call to the referendum, the single question put on which we were asked to decide, has been a massive failure of political leadership 101.

The only winner has been the Constitution itself.

The call to the referendum has been a failure of political leadership. Picture: Tim Hunter

The referendum failed for two fundamental reasons:

Many wanted the Constitution to continue to recognise and treat all AUSTRALIANS EQUALLY.

Secondly many were not prepared to buy a pig in a poke. In other words, vote for a change about which the Prime Minister personally often refused, often to supply details of how The Voice to Parliament would actually work.

The public has an ingrained distrust of politicians.

To put up a proposal with the “trust me” concept was never going to go down well with a population that is hurting, with so many other issues to deal with, particularly those relating to cost of living.

Many voters were not prepared to buy a pig in a poke. Picture: Seb Haggett

I do not know whether the leadership of the Indigenous community supporting the YES campaign agreed with the Prime Minister on this all or nothing approach or not. But if they did, they must accept some of the blame for this unheralded failure.

If they did not, then they have been used by the political class.

For we could have at least taken one step forward had the question been split in two that would have allowed the recognition of Indigenous and Torres Strait Islanders as the first settlers on this continent and surrounding islands, in our Constitution.

But that option which would have been supported in the same way that Australians did the 1967 Referendum was denied us.

We could have at least taken one step forward had the question been split in two. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

So, we wake up on Sunday, after the most divisive outpouring of comments, the frustration of many of our Indigenous leaders so often and crudely expressed, with nothing!

Yes, a great deal of public money was wasted, over $400m, but worse nothing in place to address the very real issues that face some Indigenous communities.

The Prime Minister must have a plan B.

He said he will not legislate to establish The Voice outside the Constitution, so what will he do to address those real issues of inequality, and lack of access to some of the fundamental services we all expect should be provided to all Australians.

To do nothing, to have no Plan B will only compound the failure of political leadership. Allocating money alone is not the answer.

For Albanese to have no Plan B will only compound the failure of political leadership. Picture: Seb Haggett

For instance, early in the campaign the PM flew into Alice Springs to address the civil unrest in the city.

He left after an hour but announced he was donating $250m of our money to fix the problem. Was the money transferred, if so, how was it spent, or is being spent?

We are entitled to know because so often politicians commit our money without there being any targets set for that expenditure or accountability.

With so many Indigenous communities around the country, and on country in need, with issues such as incarceration and suicide rates among the community being so much greater proportionally than the non-Indigenous community, there is a great deal of work to be done.

There are many Indigenous communities on country that live well, have good leadership and access to the services that I referred to earlier. We must learn from them and share those learnings.

The public has an ingrained distrust of politicians. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

The result of the Referendum cannot be the end of the process to “Close the Gap”, but the start of the next lap, and a concerted effort to improve the living conditions of so many of our First Peoples.

Our Indigenous community is special. They have a history of this continent, but they also have that unique attachment to the land that is centuries old that most of us do not have. So often we see the land as the land on which our house stands, or the country we farm.

Noel Pearson said among other things during this campaign that how we voted at the Referendum on the question put, was a moral issue. For him maybe, but the majority of Australians, in the most democratic expression, have said we needed detail of what you were proposing, and that information was deliberately withheld.

Therefore, the public’s concern was factual. We were not trusted with the information we needed by those who wanted us to trust them to make a considered decision.

My hope now is that the advocates of change have a Plan B, so that the very real inequities for many of our First Peoples that have been the subject of the debate, can be humanely addressed and resolved.

And that our Constitution that will continue to treat all Australians equally.

Have a good day.