Most Queenslanders supported voice to parliament during early stages of campaign

Most Queenslanders backed an Indigenous voice to parliament just four months before it posted the largest No vote in the country, it has emerged.

Mitchell Bulmer after voting in the voice referendum. Picture: Brian Cassey

A majority of Queensland voters supported an Indigenous voice to parliament just four months before the state posted the ­largest No vote in the country, taxpayer-funded opinion polling reveals.

Results from one of the state’s biggest track polling projects found that 20 per cent of Queenslanders who had planned to vote Yes in the ­referendum ended up changing their vote by October, under­lining how the campaign for ­constitutional change failed to capitalise on early support.

A survey of 1200 Queenslanders in early June found 52 per cent of people were planning on voting Yes, but less than half (47 per cent) understood the underlying concept of the voice.

In the first week of July, ­support for the voice in Queensland had plunged to 45 per cent and continued to fall as the No campaign gained momentum.

“Support for the voice to parliament has flipped, with more Queenslanders now saying they would vote No,” read the report prepared for the Queensland government by opinion polling company Ipsos Public Affairs.

“No voters are more likely to be certain than Yes voters, and increasingly certain compared to last wave. This reduction in Yes votes is seen across gender and age, although younger Queenslanders, females, First Nations peoples and (culturally and linguistically diverse) Queenslanders remain more likely to vote Yes.”

At the October referendum, Queensland delivered the most emphatic rejection of the voice with 68 per cent voting No and 31 per cent Yes.

The voice failed to achieve a majority in any of the six states.

Another deep dive on Indigenous issues, commissioned by the Labor government in the weeks following the referendum, revealed only 30 per cent of Queenslanders believed the state government should be doing more for First Nations people.

Another 41 per cent believed the state was doing enough, 16 per cent believed the government was doing “too much” and 12 per cent were unsure. Of the 362 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people surveyed in the taxpayer-funded poll, conducted from November 6 to 17, 51 per cent believed the state government should do more for the Indigenous population.

“The top three issues for First Nations respondents are to establish a First Nations advisory group to state government (53 per cent), address First ­Nations deaths in custody (49 per cent) and Indigenous languages offered in all schools (49 per cent),” the market research report read.

Premier Steven Miles is pushing ahead with Indigenous treaties “as legislated”, with a 10-member institute – due to be appointed in weeks – that would support First Nations people to prepare for and enter negotiations with government.

A separate three-year truth-telling inquiry to investigate the impacts of colonisation also is being assembled, with plans to start work before mid-year.