Comment

Certain branches of the media have sought to reduce the Voice to a left/right issue, throwing around terms such as ‘woke’ and ‘political correctness’. This is ridiculous. It is not a question of ideology, it’s a question of doing what’s right in the current Australian circumstances.

It wasn’t so much the exuberance of the Garma Festival of Traditional Cultures in Arnhem Land that set the tone of federal politics this week, as the troubling economic data on the evening news.

Some in Australia argue any policy that forces landlords to offload stock will only help renters, by increasing available housing stock. This is a shallow perspective and lacks any real understanding of why people rent, or how many rentals are onsold to new owner-occupiers.

It is with mounting despair that I note several mega threats to our planet and to humanity seem to be simultaneously gathering considerable momentum, yet governments and policy authorities are simply ignoring the severity and urgency of the challenges.

For a while, late on Monday afternoon in the house of representatives, you could be forgiven for thinking the Peter Dutton-led opposition had finally cast itself adrift from Scott Morrison.

A man once called the radical King is being transformed into a conservative icon. The Reverend Martin Luther King Jr’s message, for so long opposed by American conservatives, is now being used by the same political class to support their ideas and values.

In reruns, even now, they sometimes air the dress rehearsal. Sinéad O’Connor’s voice still wavers and cracks. She still lingers on the speaking edge of song. There is still pain and defiance.

When I became leader of the opposition there was endless advice by some of the ‘old guard’ about how I should operate. The basic principle was that you should see no good in the other side, not in the people nor in their policy prescriptions – they are your opposition, your enemy. They should be attacked at each and every opportunity. This sat particularly uneasily with me.

The very low bar of not losing the Fadden byelection the previous week, and the evident polling success of the aggressive, colonial-tinged ‘No’ team in the Voice campaign, has buoyed Peter Dutton’s Coalition.

The official ‘Yes’ case for the referendum on the Voice to Parliament, published by the Australian Electoral Commission, means well. It tries to avoid offence, is understated and ultra cautious. It will not offend anyone.