Does the resounding defeat of the Voice referendum on the weekend show that Australia hasn’t changed much since the bad old days, or have things just become much worse?
Despite its many flaws, it’s always been difficult to improve the Constitution of this country. Knowing this, Anthony Albanese must have believed he was in with a chance after Labor’s big election win, and following years of bipartisan support for constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians, in some shape or form. But the addition of a permanent Voice, even one that didn’t have to be listened to, was a bridge too far for some.
Enter the unelectable duo of David Littleproud and Peter Dutton. Like all vandals, unable to create anything positive, they decided they would destroy the hard work of others. The dividers would accuse the Yes side of division. What followed was the greatest campaign of lies and misinformation this country has ever seen, driven by fear, and relying on the wilful ignorance of history.
Disgusting campaign
As Thomas Mayo put it on Saturday night, Peter Dutton’s chosen approach was ‘a disgusting campaign’.
Ignoring the actual substance of the referendum request, vast swathes of ordinary Australians were led to believe that their legal system, wealth and property were at risk, despite the weight of evidence to the contrary. Others decided their sovereignty was under threat from the UN, or whitefella law, or the Labor Party.
Carefully designed and targeted social media campaigns targeted the fears of particular minorities, with the whole thing underwritten by the usual suspects, including Clive Palmer and the Murdoch family, and a few newly imported contributors, such as the Conservative Political Action Network.
The Yes campaign seemed unprepared for this assault. The once-worshipped Farnesy and Barnesy were no match for the fear mongering, even when they were joined by sporting legends including Cathy Freeman, Johnathan Thurston, Darcy Moore and Nathan Cleary. In 2023, feel-good influencers couldn’t compete with old-fashioned scare tactics.
The success of the No campaign, following early experiments with the same approach from Abbott to Trump, and Brexit to Bolsanaro, suggests this is likely to become the defacto way of doing opposition politics in this country, which is now part of the pan-continental United States of Stupidity. Never mind that no solutions are being offered, and societies become steadily more fractured as a result, the old and powerful retain their power, and that’s apparently all that matters.
Dirty politics
By politicising an issue that should have been above politics, it’s clear that the political faces of the No campaign hoped to reap a dividend of some kind, having offered no meaningful approaches to closing the gap, just more of the same.
Presumably their shadowy backers are happy, but after inflicting untold damage on the most vulnerable people in Australia, Peter Dutton is no closer to being Prime Minister, and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price is no closer to being his deputy.
The latest Newspoll, which accurately predicted the outcome of the referendum, suggests Labor is still comfortably ahead on a two-party preferred basis, despite the relentless attacks, and Anthony Albanese is preferred by half the electorate, compared to Dutton’s 30 per cent.
In the end, the Yes/No numbers on the weekend broke very similarly to the last referendum, on the republic, back in 1999, with voters who had both education and a bit of economic security being prepared to take a chance on changing the country for the better, and everyone else opting for the status quo. Traditional political divides were less significant, illustrating the real divide in Australia. As cost of living pressures bite, this one is deepening to a chasm.
What now?
The Labor Government could create another ATSIC, or a temporarily legislated Voice-type body, but it doesn’t sound like they have any intention of doing that.
As Senator Lidia Thorpe pointed out on referendum night, there’s nothing to stop Anthony Albanese moving to implement the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, in full.
There’s also nothing to stop the states moving forward with their own treaties and truth-telling processes. Don’t hold your breath if you live in a resource-rich state like Queensland or Western Australia though.
After months of fighting about what was always a modest referendum proposal, it would be nice if the federal parliament could address, or at least discuss, some of the massive problems confronting the country when they return to Canberra today. Post-COVID, post-referendum, post-truth, it may be possible to run an opposition by wrecking ball, but you can’t run governments like that, unless you want to end up like Israel.
Originally from Canberra, David Lowe is an award-winning film-maker, writer and photographer with particular interests in the environment and politics. He’s known for his campaigning work with Cloudcatcher Media.
Long ago, he did work experience in Parliament House with Mungo MacCallum.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
