‘Negativity’ driving no vote but enough goodwill to carry Voice campaign
Australians are not getting the information they need to be fully informed about their vote in an upcoming referendum, but ‘yes’ campaigners are confident there is enough goodwill to secure success.
Professor Megan Davis speaks to the media at Parliament House in Canberra. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch)
While multiple polls suggest support for the Indigenous voice to parliament is sliding, Uluru Dialogue co-chair Professor Megan Davis said this was not reflected in communities being visited by the ‘yes’ campaign.
“We’re not receiving the same kind of intel that the polls are showing, we are seeing an overwhelming sentiment of goodwill and support for the referendum,” she told ABC Radio on Thursday.
However, Prof Davis said the negativity of the ‘no’ campaign was cutting through.
“Australians aren’t getting the information they need to have a fully informed vote,” she said.
“The landscape is really cluttered by this misinformation, disinformation, that is (producing) outright lies, and it’s just not getting any pushback.”
The ‘yes’ campaign has used fact-checking services to correct the record on ‘no’ campaign claims about the voice.
Prof Davis said the ‘no’ campaign was “up to the 50th lie”, according to fact-checkers, and that many claims were simply designed to drive opposition to the voice.
“Most Australians don’t want Trumpian misinformation and disinformation in our politics, and they certainly don’t want American-style race discourse, which you see very much deeply embedded in the ‘no’ campaign,” she said.
“Australians want a positive and optimistic vision for the future (and) that is what the ‘yes’ campaign is, that is what the voice to parliament provides.
“Most Australians very much believe that that is an important social change in this country, and we just keep ploughing away on the ground talking to Aussies and making it happen.”
Prof Davis also rejected a call from independent senator Lidia Thorpe to ditch the referendum.
Senator Thorpe quit the Greens due to her opposition to the voice and said the referendum should be called off because it was sparking division.
Greens leader Adam Bandt did not agree with his former colleague, saying his party was campaigning strongly for a ‘yes’ vote.
“I’m concerned that a ‘no’ result would take us away from First Nations justice and make it harder to get other reforms that would be necessary,” he said.
“We will deal with that if and when it comes, but at the moment the focus is on a successful ‘yes’ outcome.”
