Yes campaign fails to fatten pig on market day in QLD

When it comes to elections, John Howard famously said that you can’t fatten a pig on market day. Yet for inexplicable reasons, the Yes campaign decided to test this theory.

When it comes to elections, John Howard famously said that you can’t fatten a pig on market day. Yet for inexplicable reasons, the Yes campaign decided to test this theory.

Queensland is a conservative state and was always going to be a challenge for the Yes campaign.

At the last referendum, Queenslanders voted against the republic and John Howard’s proposed preamble to the constitution in greater numbers than any other state or territory.

Members of the public at St Frances Xavier school in Goodna where they voted in the Referendum on the Voice. Picture: Tertius Pickard

In 1999, voters in the western electorate of Maranoa delivered the highest No vote in the country with more than 77 per cent rejecting both questions.

Despite this history, and the state having one of the highest First Nations populations in the country, the Yes campaign seemingly failed to fire in the sunshine state.

Earlier this week, The Courier-Mail spoke to residents of the Indigenous community of Cherbourg who said they had not been provided with enough information about the Voice to determine which way they will vote.

A man arrives at a polling place in Brisbane to vote in the Voice referendum. VOICEREF23 Picture: Dan Peled / NCA NewsWire

Concerns were raised in the state’s far north about a lack of engagement by the Yes campaign with remote Indigenous communities.

There was a deliberate strategy from Voice advocates not to push too hard, too soon, believing most voters would not be paying attention until the final weeks.

Meanwhile, the No campaign were setting the agenda, dictating the mood and building its case for months.

A Yes campaign event in Brisbane in July.

As polls closed on Saturday night, Queensland was expected record a strong no vote.

Now the referendum is done, it is important for our leaders to turn their minds to what next.

Because for the 5.2 per cent of the state’s population who are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, who are more likely to die sooner, struggle in school and go to jail than the non-Indigenous population, no change is not good enough.

Originally published as Yes campaign fails to fatten pig on market day in QLD