Anthony Albanese has doubled down in declaring one of the No campaign’s key arguments ‘the great lie’, as he pleads with undecided Australians to vote Yes in the Voice to Parliament referendum.
On Saturday, Australians will head to the polls to vote in the first referendum since 1999, where they will be asked whether they agree to enshrine an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice in the constitution.
Already, about two million people, including the Prime Minister, have voted in pre-polling.
All published polls have the referendum on track to fail, but Mr Albanese says he remains hopeful that Australians will come together and vote Yes.
He said Yes campaigns always had the tougher job in convincing Australians, pointing to the fact that just eight of 44 referendums in Australia’s history have been successful, but said the arguments levelled by the No campaign had been harmful and dishonest.
Anthony Albanese has doubled down in declaring one of the No campaign’s key arguments ‘the great lie’, as he pleads with undecided Australians to vote Yes in the Voice to Parliament referendum
Mr Albanese said Coalition Indigenous Australians spokeswoman and leading No campaigner Jacinta Nampijinpa Price’s claims that the Voice will divide Australia by race was ‘the great lie’.
‘There is race powers now in our Constitution,’ Mr Albanese told ABC Insiders.
‘And what this (referendum) is about is Indigenous issues, not race… Every other former colony in the world… has recognised its first peoples in its founding document.
us peoples) to be listened to. Recognise the special relationship with 65,000 years of connection to land and waters gives to Indigenous Australians. ‘
Asked whether Senator Price was ‘lying to Australians’, Mr Albanese said it ‘was not true to say this is divisive’.
‘This is an opportunity to bring the country together,’ he said.
He said Australia was ‘last in the queue’ when it came to acknowledging the role of Indigenous Australians in its history.
‘A vote for yes is a vote to show respect to Indigenous Australians. It’s an opportunity for non-Indigenous Australians to lift that burden up, but it’s something that will also be seen by much of the world,’ he said.
He said the world was watching closely.
‘Australia is being… for how we’re perceived, and it will be seen as an uplifting moment,’ he said.
‘It will be seen that Australia has come to terms with their history, that we’re a mature nation, and we’d be diminished if we vote No.’
Mr Albanese reiterated that the government would not legislate the Voice if the referendum fails, saying it would be ‘inappropriate’.
Asked if he would ‘walk away altogether’ from the Voice in the event of a No vote, Mr Albanese said ‘correct’.
‘Indigenous Australians have said they want a Voice that’s enshrined,’ he said.
Mr Albanese reiterated that the government would not legislate the Voice if the referendum fails, saying it would be ‘inappropriate’
‘What they don’t want to do is what they’ve done time and time again, which is to part of establishing representative organisations, only to see, for opportunistic reasons, a government to come in and just abolish it.’
The argument for enshrining a Voice in the constitution rather than legislating it ensures that it cannot be repealed unless there is another referendum.
The Opposition have been leading the charge in calling for the Prime Minister to legislate a Voice and put recognition only to the Australian people in a referendum.
Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley earlier told Sky News it was a ‘lose-lose’ whatever the result was next Saturday, but the country needed to ensure it ‘came together’ the day after to move forward.
‘It will be bad, divisive, and unhappy for Australians the next day. So we do need to bring the country together,’ she said.
‘I won’t be happy, by the way, if No wins. I will be voting no with a heavy heart.’
She said the Liberal Party was still committed to legislating regional and local voices, and remained determine to recognising Indigenous Australians in the constitution without the ‘divisive’ Voice.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton last month announced his intention to hold a second referendum for First Nations’ recognition if the Coalition were to win the next election, but later watered down his commitment after Senator Price declined to back it.
Ms Ley said a second referendum, coupled with legislating local and regional voices ‘backs in our determination to recognise Indigenous Australians in our constitution’.
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