State premiers ‘important’ to Indigenous voice to parliament Yes campaign, referendum
Daniel Andrews says the voice is nothing to be scared of, after Newspoll showed the country was completely divided.
The Albanese government is banking on the country’s premiers playing a crucial role in getting the Indigenous voice to parliament referendum across the line, hoping the state leaders’ popularity in states like South Australia and NSW will help clinch a Yes vote.
As the Yes23 campaign prepares to ramp up its grassroots strategy from July 1 and rapidly increase its volunteer network of more than 7000 people, government sources said the importance of premiers – all of whom support the referendum – should not be underestimated in the debate.
While Queensland is considered the weakest link for the Yes camp, Labor insiders were hopeful Chris Minns in NSW, Peter Malinauskas in SA and the country’s only Liberal premier, Jeremy Rockliff in Tasmania, would be influential campaigners.
There were also expectations new WA premier Roger Cook would enjoy a honeymoon period in the lead-up to the referendum. Anthony Albanese will play the most prominent role of politicians involved in the Yes campaign.
Mr Malinauskas said he would campaign for the voice in every forum he could and would not be a politician who sat on the fence while Australia had an important nat0ional discussion.
“I’m proud of the fact that South Australia has already led the nation by legislating a First Nations voice,” he said. “It should be a demonstration to all that we have nothing to lose as a society, but everything to gain from giving our First Nations people the ability to speak directly to decision makers about the matters that affect their lives.”
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said the voice should not be controversial or feared, declaring he could not see “any downside whatsoever”.
“We can pay the price of failure. Whether you vote No or Yes, whether you’re leaning one way or the other, we are spending billions of dollars to fail. Let’s try something different,” he said.
Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney will campaign across Western Australia soon and on Monday night called on “all the WA mob out there” to advocate for the voice, after an exclusive Newspoll conducted for The Australian found less than half of eligible Australians would vote Yes at the referendum.
“I want to give a special shout out to all the WA mob out there. You’ve got a big job helping me with this referendum. A big job. And tonight I’m pleased to say that soon I will be joining you by crisscrossing WA for a whole week,” Ms Burney told the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies summit in Perth.
“I’ll be listening to and talking with communities about the voice referendum – from Kununurra to Claremont, from Perth to the Pilbara – I’ll be there with you, having conversations with everyone about why we need a voice.”
The Newspoll, which was the first to present voters with the precise question they’ll be asked at the ballot box, found opinion on the voice was almost equally divided. Forty-six per cent of voters said they would vote Yes, 43 per cent of voters said they would vote No, and 11 per cent were undecided.
Women, young people and city-based university-educated Australians were more likely to vote Yes, while over 50s in the regions who didn’t go to university were the strongest opponents.
Nationals leader David Littleproud pleaded with the Prime Minister to separate constitutional recognition from establishing a voice in the nation’s birth certificate, accusing him of choosing a model that will divide the country.
“To intertwine another layer of bureaucracy (by creating a voice), one in which he won’t even provide the details, that’s showing to be divisive,” Mr Littleproud told Sky News.
Asked in what form Mr Littleproud thought constitutional recognition could be best achieved, he said a constitutional convention was required to determine if a preamble or new chapter would be more successful.
Additional reporting: Rachel Baxendale
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