If you thought the Voice was bad, just wait until the next election

With the bloody success of its campaign to destroy the Voice, it is obvious the Coalition will use the same techniques, apparatus and expertise to try to smash Anthony Albanese at the next federal election.

Not only have the demons been unleashed, they have assumed control. The conservative campaign group Advance Australia, founded, funded and supported by elites supposedly to fight elites but in fact benefitting them by preserving the status quo, executed a brutal campaign.

Peter Dutton has shown scant remorse for the harm that might have been inflicted through the Voice.Credit: Dionne Gain

It was reckless with the truth, with little or no regard for social cohesion. The most damaging aspect was the black on black conflict. It was ever thus. It was lethal.

In the aftermath, Peter Dutton has shown scant remorse for the harm that might have been inflicted on Indigenous people or on the body politic by the lies and the racist themes by some No supporters. On Saturday night, Dutton declared it a “good day for Australia” and anyway, whatever harm was inflicted was not his fault, it was Albanese’s. In the fine tradition of former prime minister Tony Abbott – a key figure in Advance Australia – he kept his foot on his opponent’s throat.

Labor watched the Liberals struggle for a decade to get an operation as effective as they believed GetUp was, then finally on Saturday night, they succeeded. Labor’s political brains now know exactly what they will be up against in 2025. They also know if they can’t counter it or beat it, they are done for.

The Coalition has no interest in regaining its heartland. The size of the No vote in safe Labor seats has confirmed its belief that’s where its future lies. Labor hardheads do not dismiss this possibility. They have been aware their stronghold was at risk since 2022 when One Nation and Palmer got a spike in support in Victorian seats like Bruce and Holt.

“There is no room for even an ounce of complacency,” one senior member of the government warned. Another agreed saying they would be “mad” to be complacent. Another still was more explicit: “We have to not do dumb shit. We have to be a good, competent government that concentrates on health, housing, education and cost of living.”

From the top down, the government is now convinced the Coalition has the means and the motivation and has already zeroed in on the issue with the potential to create the same chaos and division as the Voice on an even grander scale. Immigration.

Social media posts during the referendum, echoing or amplifying No Campaign material, offer a glimpse into the future. Chinese Australians were told via WeChat messages from multiple senders – among many other things including that a future referendum could see them expelled from the country – that the Voice would promote segregation and division, and that it would provide Indigenous kids with free places at private schools, meaning Chinese Australian children would either be unable to get in or their fees would skyrocket.

WhatsApp messages circulating in Muslim communities warned that if the Voice succeeded, their relatives would no longer be able to come to Australia.

Dutton has shown a predilection for inflammatory language. He did it on the Voice, and he has done it on the Middle East despite a rare and obvious caution from the head of ASIO, Mike Burgess, to cool it.

Dutton flagged his intention to use immigration most clearly in his Budget reply speech in May where he said net overseas migration of 1.5 million over five years would worsen cost of living and inflation.

It is the issue most ripe for exploitation because it can feed into every grievance and every prejudice including from migrants. Houses too expensive? Roads too congested? Can’t find a job or get a hospital bed? Whatever ails you, blame immigration. And, of course, Albanese.

Clare O’Neil has made preemptive strikes to undermine Dutton’s standing on border security and immigration. She came out swinging immediately after the report by Christine Nixon which accused the Coalition of concentrating on stopping people coming illegally to Australia through the back door in boats, when they were flying in through the front door “in their millions”.

Opposition Indigenous affairs spokeswoman Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.Credit: AAP

O’Neil has hit Dutton where it hurts by claiming he had cut funding for compliance, allowing criminal syndicates to exploit weaknesses. Her message then and subsequently in parliament was that Dutton acts tough, but he is incompetent. Dutton swung back, calling her angry and aggressive. O’Neil’s male colleagues, knowing just how tough she is, cheered her on. One cabinet minister who has watched Dutton closely, observed that he appeared to have difficulty dealing with assertive women.

O’Neil is working on a package to stamp out rorts and significantly reduce the net numbers while she keeps punching at Dutton’s credibility.

Maybe Dutton will pause and think better of it. He should. An election campaign on immigration would only cut or fray more of the threads which bind us together. It would be another tragedy for Australia.

Before then, and quickly, journalists and media outlets including the ABC, need to review their coverage, as the ABC’s most senior political journalist Laura Tingle rightly suggested at the weekend.

Balance cannot be measured by counting down to the last second how much air time or column inches each side gets. Too often that comes at the expense of truth. It is also not the job of journalists to publish lies. Nor is it OK to allow one side to make an outrageous claim, then put it to the other side to rebut, then count that as balance. That distorts and helps destroy civil debate.

Balance also is not achieved by refusing to broadcast a Yes event – for instance – as frequently happened because the No’s were a no show. That is not covering the news. That skews the news because it deprives one side of the opportunity to put its case while providing cover for the other.

Niki Savva is a regular columnist.

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