Seven’s ‘worm’ shows where Aussies stand on Indigenous Voice after Ray Martin, Jacinta Price, Lidia Thorpe and Malarndirri McCarthy speak

The opinions of everyday Australians about four of the most prominent figures in the Voice debate were made clear in a TV graphic used by Channel Seven.

Seven Spotlight’s Voice to Parliament referendum debate was held on Sunday night and invited Independent senator Lidia Thorpe, Coalition senator Jacinta Price, broadcaster Ray Martin and Labor senator Malarndirri McCarthy to speak.

The segment was accompanied by a ‘worm’ – where undecided voters move a graphic up or down depending on whether they agree or not with a speaker. 

The worm rose far above the line when Ms Price and Ms Thorpe spoke, but down when Martin or Ms McCarthy had their turn.

All four have Aboriginal heritage, but Ms Price and Ms Thorpe are vehemently opposed to an Indigenous Voice while Martin and Ms McCarthy are in favour of one.

Ray Martin’s worm (pictured) spent most of the show below the line, meaning what he said was unpopular

The worm’s crude, instant measure of popularity showed most participants opposed the Voice, and supported both Ms Price’s conservative No reasons and Ms Thorpe’s so-called ‘progressive No’ views. 

The worm went below the line, meaning a negative view, most of the time when Ms McCarthy or Martin spoke, especially when the latter tried to defend calling some No voters ‘d***heads’.

The only blip in the worm for Ms Thorpe’s happened when she spoke about wanting a treaty between Australia and Indigenous people.

Host Liam Bartlett asked Martin why he ‘choose to abuse people who had a different opinion’ by calling them ‘d***heads and dinosaurs’ at a Yes rally in the Sydney inner west suburb of Marrickville. 

‘I haven’t done that,’ Martin replied. ‘That is part of what I said… I didn’t say No voters were dinosaurs or d***heads. I said that those who vote No because they don’t know… that slogan is one of the silliest I have ever heard.’

He added that ‘if someone looks at the issue and decides to vote No, that’s perfectly their democratic right. I don’t oppose that at all.

‘If a Yes voter votes without bothering to look at this very important referendum, I think they’re a d***head as well.’

Ms Price defended the ‘If you don’t know, vote No’ slogan, saying it has been impossible for people to find out exactly what they are being asked to vote on. 

‘When people seek answers to their questions about how this whole thing will operate, how people are elected, we don’t know, we’re told it’ll come after the vote’s taken place. 

‘So if you don’t know, if you’re not clear, evidently the government is not clear as to how this whole thing is supposed to operate. That’s a red flag to me, I’d vote No,’ she said.

Ms Thorpe argued: ‘It’s not about (Indigenous people’s) problems, it’s about the government’s problems in not allowing us to decide what’s best for us’.

Though Lidia Thorpe’s worm sometimes went below the line, mostly it stayed well above (pictured) 

Labor senator Malarndirri McCarthy (pictured) slipped well below the line at times

Martin said it was the opposite to that. ‘The Voice is an opportunity for First Australians to talk about their problems as they haven’t been able to do for 235 years (since European settlement),’ he said. 

Ms McCarthy responded to Indigenous activist Warren Mundine who said the Uluru Statement from the Heart, on which the referendum question is based, was a ‘symbolic declaration of war against modern Australia’.

She said his choice of words was ‘most unfortunate. This is actually a peaceful document … we are a very peaceful people.

‘This is a peaceful approach through our democratic structure of this country, to ask for our people to have a Voice enshrined in the Constitution. 

‘A Voice that can give advice on matters that impact First Nations people.’ 

In a worrying sign for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the worm reached its lowest point of the night when a clip of him speaking about the Voice was played. 

At the end of the show, most of the undecided voters in the studio picked a side, with 53 per cent saying they will vote No, 30 per cent would vote Yes and 17 per cent were still undecided.

Almost 41,000 viewers watching at home also took part, with 72 per cent saying they would vote No, 23 per cent Yes and just five per cent undecided.