Voice to Parliament ‘no’ campaigner Warren Mundine is ‘just as confused as everyone’ about a situation in which an Indigenous man was wrongly identified as the grandson of iconic Aboriginal activist Vincent Lingiari.
The ‘no’ campaign website featured a picture of Stewart Lingiari and identified him as one of several prominent case studies supporting the fight against the referendum.
In the advertisements, Mr Lingiari says ‘I don’t want you to look at me differently. That’s why I’m voting no’.
He’s described as Vincent Lingiari’s grandson – something later contradicted by both Vincent’s true descendants and Mr Lingiari himself.
Mr Lingiari – who was given his surname by his adoptive parents and has no relation to Vincent – has since come out to condemn his involvement in the project.
The ‘no’ campaign website featured a picture of Stewart Lingiari and identified him as one of several prominent case studies supporting the fight against the referendum
He said he ‘is not from that family’ and that he had little understanding of what the Voice to Parliament was when he was asked to participate in advertising for the ‘no’ campaign.
And on ABC Radio National, Mr Mundine said he, too, is confused about the miscommunication.
‘The only thing I did here was trust someone who introduced themselves as a certain person,’ he said.
‘I’m very confused – just as much as everyone else is.’
Mr Lingiari will be removed from all promotional materials within the next two days, Mr Mundine said, as the ‘no’ campaign works to establish what went wrong.
The Ngukurr man – some 770km (or 12 hours) from where Vincent’s family live in the Northern Territory – also claimed he was given a script to read for the promotional video.
Voice to Parliament ‘no’ campaigner Warren Mundine is ‘just as confused as everyone’ about a situation in which an Indigenous man was wrongly identified as the grandson of iconic Aboriginal activist Vincent Lingiari
Mr Mundine denies this, and says he’s concerned for Mr Lingiari’s wellbeing on the back of the controversy.
Describing their first meeting in Canberra, Mr Mundine says he was given no reason not to trust the group.
‘He was introduced to me as the grandson of Vincent Lingiari… I said ”wow, really?” and he said ”yes”,’ Mr Mundine claimed.
‘I said ”it’s an honour to meet you”… we had conversations over the two days that we were together.’
Mr Mundine was questioned about the rigour of his vetting process in finding spokespeople for the ‘no’ campaign, but he insists his only mistake was being too trusting.
He assured the public that his primary focus is to remain a source of truthful and accurate information about the Voice to Parliament referendum and community response.
In the advertisements, Mr Lingiari says ‘I don’t want you to look at me differently. That’s why I’m voting no’
He’s described as Vincent Lingiari’s grandson – something later contradicted by both Vincent’s true descendants and Mr Lingiari himself
‘We’re going to be ensuring as much as we can that we’ll be checking and checking and checking before we put anything out.
‘It’s about truth and trust – that’s what I operate on and I want to make sure everyone understands that things have to be checked.’
But he also noted this was a ‘strange situation’ that he’d never found himself in before.
‘I’ve never been in a situation like this where someone introduces themselves to me as someone, and then later says they’re not… We did the right thing at the time.’
Mr Lingiari is adamant he did not introduce himself as Vincent’s grandson.
Despite the back and forth, Mr Mundine is confident he’ll secure a ‘no’ majority come referendum time.
Australians will be asked whether they support the establishment of the Voice to Parliament to recognise Indigenous people in the Constitution. The government has set aside $364.6million in this Budget for the referendum.
Anthony Albanese is attempting to introduce a Voice to Parliament
The vote will need support from the majority of Australians in the majority of states to be successful.
The Voice will establish a body that can ‘make representations to the Parliament and the Executive Government of the Commonwealth on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’.
This body – comprised of Indigenous people from a range of ages and demographics – would give advice to the government.
His campaign, alongside Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, has enjoyed a surge in support in recent days, with new polling suggesting support for the Voice is faltering.
A survey shows slightly more than half of Australians still back the Voice, but the percentage of people who intend to vote ‘yes’ has dropped from 58 per cent to 53 per cent over the past month.
The polling, by Resolve Strategic for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers, reveals the ‘no’ campaign is on track to win if the trend continues.
Liberal MP Julian Leeser, who quit the Opposition front bench due to his party’s negative stance on the Voice, said he would movie amendments next week to change the proposed model in the hope of boosting public support.
His proposed changes include making the Voice’s role in advising government over laws affecting Aboriginal people to be legislated for, but not constitutionally enshrined as is the current proposal.
Mr Leeser said the poll showed the electoral prospects for the Voice were ‘not tracking as they should’ and some dilution of the proposal was needed to ensure it got approved.
‘The best way to improve the prospects is to limit the arguments of the ‘no’ case,’ he said.
‘I am a supporter of the Voice, I will be voting ‘yes’ at the referendum, the amendments I am proposing will improve the electoral prospects of the Voice.’
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