Frank Brennan says Indigenous voice to parliament referendum has ‘sent race relations backwards’

Indigenous voice to parliament supporter Frank Brennan says the referendum has ‘created a hell of a mess’.

Jesuit priest and human rights lawyer Frank Brennan. Picture: Ryan Osland/The Australian

Indigenous voice to parliament supporter Frank Brennan says the referendum has “created a hell of a mess” and sent race relations in Australia backwards.

Hitting out at three “serious missteps” by the Albanese government, Father Brennan said the lack of a bipartisan process following last year’s Garma festival, failing to release draft voice legislation and Anthony Albanese hand-picking 21 Indigenous leaders for the government’s referendum working group had harmed constitutional recognition and reconciliation.

“What we’ve done is we’ve created a hell of a mess and in terms of race relations we’re well behind the eight ball from where we were prior to the Garma announcement,” says Frank Brennan, an Australian Jesuit priest and human rights lawyer. Picture: Ryan Osland/The Australian.

“These three fundamental errors by government have put us so far behind the eight-ball, not only in terms of constitutional recognition but in terms of bringing the country together. That’s what we wanted to do with this and I think we’re blowing it,” the Jesuit lawyer told 2GB radio.

Despite being scathing of the government’s referendum process, Father Brennan said he was voting Yes because a standoff between the major parties and Indigenous leaders on constitutional recognition had gone on for too long.

“We’ve been trying to find that sweet spot that can bring the Labor Party, the Liberal Party and the Aboriginal leadership together. I think it’s a hell of a mess but I think to vote No and to have it come up as No we’re going to have the matter still unresolved and we’re going to have the situation – we don’t know where in a year or five years’ time – we’ll get things any better,” he said.

“The other reason is this: we’ve got all sorts of advisory bodies to government aimed at closing the gap. We’ve now had a full year where all of those things have been trashed, as if to say they don’t work.

“And so, trying to get them to work again, whether it be the Coalition of Peaks or NACCHO in the health area or whatever, all we’ve heard is those people being told ‘look you don’t work, we don’t listen to you, you don’t say the right things’. So how do we get something and start again? And I say vote Yes.”

In the event of a No vote, Father Brennan said the Prime Minister and Peter Dutton would need a rethink of the positions they’d taken on constitutional recognition and ask what good they could do for the country.

He said it was “dreadful” of Mr Albanese to suggest the referendum would have been worthwhile even if it failed because it brought Indigenous disadvantage to the fore of public discussion.

“I think that’s a dreadful thing to say, if I may say so respectfully to the Prime Minister,” Father Brennan said.

“I don’t know a single Aboriginal person who says they’d want to go through this again and that it was worth doing. What we’ve done is we’ve created a hell of a mess and in terms of race relations we’re well behind the eight ball from where we were prior to the Garma announcement.”

While there are no clear signs of a turnaround in support for the voice, Mr Albanese said the referendum was “certainly winnable” and undecided voters thought the question they’ll be asked on October 14 was “fair enough”.

“This will just give respect to Indigenous Australians, without taking anything from non-Indigenous Australians,” he told Hit100.9 Hobart radio.
“More than that, I think what it will do is give something to us non-Indigenous Australians as well, because we will feel better about ourselves, like we did when the Apology happened. We just felt better. An act of generosity. When you do something for someone else, then you feel better about yourself.”

Mr Albanese has repeatedly lashed misinformation and disinformation he says is being pushed by the No campaign, including a conspiracy theory that the United Nations will control all land in Australia if the referendum succeeds.

“Private ownership of everyone’s home will go with a yes vote. It’s just absurd. And to me I think that is countered by the goodwill that is there overwhelmingly from the Yes campaign,” he said.

As Mr Albanese declared it was “absurd” to suggest the voice would advise the Reserve Bank of Australia, Father Brennan said that was wrong and the advisory body would have the constitutional power to do so.

“Would it be worth making representations (to the RBA)? I wouldn’t have thought so,” he said. “Would you want to waste time making representations? I wouldn’t have thought so.”

“What I do urge on people when they’re thinking on how to vote, is let’s at least respectfully listen to the Aboriginal voices. I would hope that people, if they vote No, they’ll do it because they’ve heard Aboriginal people convincing them that they should vote No, or if they vote Yes, they’ve heard Aboriginal people convincing them they should vote Yes.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and supporters of Yes23 at Goodwood. Picture: Chris Kidd

Father Brennan said the voice referendum was completely different to the same-sex marriage plebiscite, because the latter was about treating everyone the same.

“You didn’t have leading gays and lesbians out there saying vote No. What we’ve got here is clear public division between key Aboriginal leaders,” he said.

“That’s why we needed a process which was far more aimed at getting people locked into a process and that sadly wasn’t done.”