Anthony Albanese’s huge challenge, risk over voice referendum

Anthony Albanese has declared he won’t be distracted by the voice campaign from addressing the number one priority facing Australians of the cost-of-living. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Anthony Albanese famously said Scott Morrison only had two jobs as Prime Minister during the pandemic: quarantine and vaccination. Now the Prime Minister is facing a huge challenge on his “two jobs” – running the Yes campaign for the voice to parliament, and everything else.

Albanese has declared he won’t be distracted by the voice campaign from addressing the number one priority facing Australians, the cost-of-living, nor allow the voice debate to distort the political discourse.

“We’re very focused on the responsibility we have of government. And that means addressing the cost-of-living challenges, it means addressing our national security issues. It means addressing the implementation of the changes that we received a mandate for last year,” he said on the weekend.

But the reality is that almost every time he faces a media interview he is asked about the voice, the coalescence of crises in indigenous communities and what practical effect the voice will have.

Even Labor MPs who support the voice have argued that the crises must be dealt with and the voice is out of mind.

At the same time the rising cost of mortgages, energy and supermarket goods means the cost of living intrudes on everyone’s life as a downturn and job losses loom.

As parliament resumes this week the politics of the voice will intensify, as Albanese tries to divert pressure on him over demands for detail and how the voice will work by preparing to blame Peter Dutton’s reluctance on the referendum for any failure of the Yes case.

Albanese is convinced the referendum will get the required majority of all voters and a majority in two-thirds of the states based on goodwill, courtesy and good manners without detail and with a campaign from the “ground up”.

But again the reality is that Albanese has invested the authority of Prime Minister and the Labor government in the referendum passing and cunning plans to blame the Opposition Leader carry their real risk for the government.

Albanese’s argument that the campaign is not run by ideology or political leaders is self-serving dissembling when his own role is crucial and he’s preparing to blame Dutton for failure.

What’s more the latest Newspoll on support for the voice, despite showing a majority 56 per cent in favour of the Indigenous voice, shows that support is still short of the necessary two-thirds of the population and is soft.

Of the 56 per cent who support the voice the total is cut exactly in half between those who “strongly support” and those who “partly support”. This is a risk for Albanese because weak support can drain away quickly if doubts and questions are not addressed.

Albanese’s challenge and risk over the referendum is great, but for him to be seen to be spending more effort and time on the voice – rather than the kitchen table issues and crises in indigenous communities – the risk and damage will be even greater.