- Exclusive
- Politics
- Federal
- Voice to parliament
This was published 1 year ago
Albanese to take Voice battle to the suburbs to sway key swing state
By Paul Sakkal and James Massola
The Voice campaign must use practical language to pitch to mainstream voters in the suburbs, South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas says, as his home state shapes up as a crucial jurisdiction in the referendum.
Malinauskas revealed he had spoken to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese about holding next Wednesday’s referendum date reveal event in Adelaide’s suburbs, where he said disengaged voters were yet to make a decision.
“We’ve got to talk about it in a practical way people can relate to.”
Peter Malinauskas with Anthony Albanese at the Labor conference last week.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“I’m all in,” he said in an interview, emphasising the need to speak about the Voice’s impact on “bread and butter” issues such as health and education.
“I don’t really care what the political winds of the moment are around the country. This is something I care deeply about. It’s important we talk about the power of the Voice to deliver practical outcomes for Aboriginal people who have been otherwise disadvantaged by ill-thought-through policies.”
The referendum, widely expected to be held on October 14, needs to be supported by a majority of voters in four of the six states to pass. Yes campaigners are pessimistic about winning in Western Australia and Queensland, where Resolve Strategic polling shows the No vote well ahead.
They are more confident about winning in Victoria, NSW and Tasmania, making South Australia a crucial state in which Malinauskas will attend rallies and other events to help get the referendum over the line.
A Yes campaigner unauthorised to speak on the record said that Malinauskas was still “super popular” with voters in his state, that he hadn’t played a big role in the state campaign yet and that “we think there is still an opportunity to convince people there”.
“If SA goes down, we’re gone. There will still be a big focus on western Sydney for example, there are probably more votes in play there too, but it isn’t a state.”
South Australian Liberal senator Kerrynne Liddle said she detected little appetite to support the Voice in her state.
South Australia’s first Indigenous federal parliamentarian, a prominent Voice critic, said the majority of people who spoke to her about the Voice supported her decision to campaign against the referendum.
Kerrynne Liddle (centre) with Coalition senators Jacinta Price and Michaelia Cash.Credit: Trevor Collens
The Malinaukas government in June paused its plans for a state-based Voice. Initially, the government hoped to get its local Indigenous body operating before the referendum to demonstrate the benefits of such a body. But the government then decided to delay, citing confusion with the national process.
Liddle said concerns had been raised from sections of the Indigenous community about the South Australian Voice model.
“The whole reason they were going early was to show how a Voice could work, but now they have nothing and I think it presents an issue for them being able to say there’s no risk or to demonstrate benefits of the national Voice,” she said.
South Australian Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said volunteers for the Yes campaign had been knocking on doors and making calls and the intensity of the effort would grow rapidly.
“SA has led the nation on so many issues: we were the first state to give women the vote ... and now we need to lead again,” Hanson-Young said.
James Stevens, the Liberal MP for the inner suburban Adelaide seat of Sturt, said the state’s result was on a knife edge and whichever way South Australia swung, the nation would probably follow.
“I’ve noted people have been very open-minded to the proposal,” the former chief-of-staff to Liberal premier Steven Marshall said.
“It’s been a big mistake for the advocates to not have any level of detail that can support that next level of decision-making for voters, which is [where they say] I’m open minded to the concept, now explain to me how it’ll work. That’s been a gaping hole.”
Liberal MP James Stevens says South Australia’s Voice vote is on a knife edge.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Stevens pointed out that South Australian politics tended to have a gentler tone than the debate in the larger cities, meaning it was unlikely Adelaide would be plastered with Yes and No billboards and household signage. But the No campaign is also preparing an on-the-ground volunteer network.
Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter here.