‘Base racism’: Indigenous voice to parliament Yes leader Marcia Langton in no-holds-barred call

Linda Burney is forced to intervene and call for ­respect from both sides of the voice referendum debate after Marcia Langton accused the No case of racism and stupidity.

Linda Burney has been forced to intervene and call for care and ­respect from both sides of the voice referendum debate after Marcia Langton accused the No case of racism and stupidity, undermining the Yes campaign’s strategy to win over five million undecided voters.

Race became a central feature of the campaign on Tuesday in the wake of Professor Langton’s comments to an audience in regional Western Australia, as Noel Pearson urged fellow Yes supporters to “be respectful of the reservations that people have”.

ALP national secretary Paul Erickson also gave his third briefing to caucus for the year, telling Labor MPs that 30 per cent of voters – or about five million people – were still in play.

The Australian understands there is a view among senior ranks of the party that if the Yes ­campaign manages to win over undecided people and add them to the Yes voters already locked in, they can achieve a majority on ­October 14.

Professor Langton in Bunbury on Sunday called out No campaign “lies” such as a voice enshrined in the Constitution will lead to treaty and compensation for Aboriginal people. “We’re really down to the wire. We’ve got four weeks to win this now and if there are people thinking, ‘Oh, but I read that (West Australian columnist) Paul Murray said that they’re going to use this as a sneaky way to get treaties’, we’re already well on the way to treaties, just tell them that,” Professor Langton said, adding that compensation would only ever be paid if the courts or governments said it should be.

“What are they (the No campaign) talking about? See, ‘Aborigines are bludgers, Aborigines steal everything, Aborigines aren’t entitled to the compensation that everybody else gets because they’re lying’. Do you see my point? Every time the No case raises one of their arguments, if you start pulling it apart you get down to base racism – I’m sorry to say it but that’s where it lands – or just sheer stupidity.”

Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney in question time on Tuesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

The Minister for Indigenous Australians refused to directly criticise the comments but told federal parliament: “I want to say this very clearly – I call on everyone involved in this referendum to act respectfully and with care for their fellow Australians.

“We are a great country. We are enhanced by listening to a diversity of views and opinions. Fundamentally the voice is all about the act of listening … Of course there is no room for racism of any kind in this country,” Ms Burney said.

Professor Langton, an architect of national, regional and local voice models, defended her comments, saying No campaigners were using racist tactics but she didn’t believe the majority of Australians were racist.

“I have not said that No voters are racist. The No campaign is using racism to peddle their ­deceitful wares,” she told The Australian on Tuesday.

“No one gets compensation unless a court or authority has ordered it. There are treaty processes well under way in Victoria. Queensland and the NT. The Calma Langton Report states unequivocally that the Voice structure we recommend would not interfere in existing bodies or processes.

“It is an advisory body only. The No campaign is deliberately lying about matters that are on the public record and duping the ­public.”

Opposition Indigenous Australians spokeswoman Jacinta Price – a leading campaigner for the No case – said the comments provided an “insight into the mindset and agenda of the ­Aboriginal activists pushing the divisive voice.” She warned the ­remarks from Professor Langton would be highly offensive to about half the nation.

“Whichever way the referendum goes, the result looks like it will be extremely close and any suggestion No voters who are unpersuaded by their proposed voice are siding with racism or stupidity is highly offensive to at least half the country.”

Ken Wyatt, who was Indigenous Australians minister in the Morrison government and has worked with Professor Langton for years on the issues of constitutional recognition and a voice, did not wish to comment on her remarks first reported by the Bunbury Herald.

However he characterised some of the claims of the No campaign as “stupid”.

Marcia Langton speaks at the Edith Cowan University campus in Bunbury on Sunday. Picture: Bunbury Herald

The front page of the Bunbury Herald.

“People are now becoming more uncertain because of the strategies that are being used by individuals who are pushing fears and concerns into the minds of people,” Mr Wyatt said.

“Last night in Melbourne I learned there are messages being given to cultural groups saying stupid things like ‘if you vote Yes you will have to pay Aboriginal people for the use of your land’ or ‘you cannot go to the beach if the voice is established’.

“These are blatant mistruths and that is causing people to become concerned and that is sad when this should have been a debate about the merits of an advisory body to government because that is all it is it is – an advisory body – it has no extraordinary powers.

“The political leaders opposing this in the Liberal Party and the Nationals will have a say on the legislation that is drafted to create the voice.”

Anthony Albanese told caucus on Tuesday that MPs needed to talk to as many people as possible in the weeks ahead, while it is understood Mr Erickson also said Labor members should use the final month of campaigning to make the case for the Indigenous voice.

Several Labor sources said there was little discussion amongst caucus about the voice or the trend against Yes in the polls.

One source said there was a reluctance to raise concerns because there was a rump of MPs who were still confident it would pass and who reacted “angrily” to any suggestion otherwise.

“Discussion is discouraged,” the Labor source said.

The Prime Minister seized on No campaign tactics published in Nine newspapers, declaring they were telling their campaigners to promote fear rather than hope. “To promote the entrenching of failures rather than the better ­future. To promote ignoring rather than listening. To promote exclusion rather than recognition,” he said.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus labelled Mr Dutton “the leader of the misinformation and disinformation campaign, that is symptomatic of the No campaign”.

“He knows that the constitutional provision is extremely clear. He knows that the legal nonsense that he has repeated for month after month has been dismissed by the former chief justice of the High Court of Australia, Robert French, by the leading constitutional lawyer, Bret Walker, who said of that sort of question that it was too silly for words,” Mr Dreyfus said.

The Opposition Leader told the Coalition partroom that there was no prospect of getting more detail on how the voice will operate with just three parliamentary sitting days before the vote. “Whatever the outcome of the referendum, on October 15th our nation will be bruised,” Mr Dutton said.

“Despite the Prime Minister’s statements that no issue could be more important than this, he’s also made it clear that if the ­referendum is voted down, that he won’t take the issue back up again.

“Either you’re consistent with your views or you are not, it’s a test of character.

“Our position on recognition across multiple governments and parliaments remains, and our commitment to working towards finding a bipartisan way forward continues.”

Additional reporting: Sarah Ison, Paige Taylor