The referendum campaign has cemented racism into the body politic, and the ‘baseless’ rejection of ‘Yes’ will create a bleak future for Australia and those who stood with First Nations people.
‘Yes’ campaigners are focusing on direct personal appeals to undecided voters, in the hope of clawing back support as they battle online falsehoods and an increasingly vitriolic debate.
A think tank led by some of the country’s most influential business figures has been instrumental in building the ‘No’ campaign – despite claiming it doesn’t have a position on the Voice.
At the start of this campaign, the average ‘No’ voter was a man over 50. Since then, the ‘No’ vote has grown in almost every demographic – driven by distrust of the Voice and the belief that First Nations people don’t want it.
As the campaign for the Voice to Parliament enters its final weeks, the ‘No’ case has begun making absurd claims such as ‘white people … will be paying to live here’.
Variations in the way polls account for undecided voters leave some hope for the ‘Yes’ campaign as it battles sliding support a month out from the Voice referendum.
The leader of the Liberals for Yes organisation says party members have told her they are being threatened with losing preselection if they campaign in favour of voting ‘Yes’ at the referendum.
Indigenous knowledge of how to handle extreme weather could help society adapt in energy-saving ways to a hotter future, say the authors of a study in scientific journal The Lancet.
Leading ‘Yes’ advocate Noel Pearson details how the campaign is turning a corner, how the Voice would function, and how it would complement state treaty processes.
A proposed new law designed to fight online misinformation is little comfort to ‘Yes’ campaigners who are horrified by what is being spread on social media.
