The Voice referendum: Everyday Indigenous Australians who will vote ‘No’

Indigenous Australians leading the charge for the ‘No’ campaign have revealed why they intend to vote against the Voice referendum – calling it ‘divisive and dangerous’.

Australians will vote in the referendum between October and December – after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese unveiled the wording of the proposal last month.

However, Peter Dutton’s Liberals have already rejected the Prime Minister’s proposal and now a group of everyday Indigenous Australians have launched a campaign to speak out against it.

The group, called Fair Australia, is led by Coalition Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price.

On its website, it labels The Voice as “divisive, dangerous, expensive and not fair.”

Senator Price is a staunch critic of the proposal and has long argued that it ignores everyday Aboriginal Australians.

On Fair Australia’s website, she says: ‘It is not right to divide us along the lines of race, especially within our Australian founding document.’

Cheron Long, a women’s rights campaigner whose cousin died hours after being sexually assaulted, said: ‘The only voice we will ever need is the Australian voice. Let’s create unity and not division.

“We are one Mob, the Aussie Mob. Don’t let them divide us.’

Another woman named Matilda Walker told Fair Australia: ‘I’m a daughter, I’m an aunt, I’m a cousin and I don’t want others to look at me differently. We are one Mob.’

An elder named Lavinus added, “I love my family and I don’t want people to look at them differently.”

While a man named Stewart Rankin said, “I don’t want you to look at me differently. That’s why I vote no.’

Senator Price released a personal documentary with her husband Colin Lillie on Wednesday.

In it she talked about growing up in Alice Springs with an Indigenous mother and a white Australian father.

She said: “Later this year, politicians will ask us to vote on a major amendment to our constitution. They want to establish a so-called voice in parliament.

“This is a huge change and will mean some Australians will be treated differently based on their skin colour.

“I will vote no because this will not unite us, this will divide us.

“I don’t want my family to be divided based on race because we are a family of people. And that’s what it comes down to.’

Fair Australia said on its website: ‘Not all Indigenous Australians want the vote. Not only that, for the first time in our country’s history, your constitution would divide Australians by race.

“No other group of Australians will have a constitutional say in parliament and government: no Australians with disabilities, single parents, senior Australians, nor anyone else.

Every Australian believes that Indigenous communities deserve significant financial support. But currently we spend more on direct government funding for Aboriginal Australians than we do on NDIS, Medicare or Defense – almost $40 billion a year, or $100 million a day.

‘Yet there has been almost no improvement in the lives of Indigenous Australians for decades. If the NDIS or Medicare produced such poor results at $100 million a day, there would be a royal commission, not a vote in parliament.

The activists behind The Voice have had their chance and now it’s enough. Aboriginal Australians don’t need a taxpayer-funded lobby group written into the heart of our Constitution.

“There are already too many culture warriors in this country — in the public service, in our sports, in our schools and in our workplaces.

‘They’ve come for Australia Day, and they’re coming for more. The Voice means they have a constitutional right to do so. It’s time we say enough.’

Sometime between October and December this year, Australians will be asked by referendum to approve the creation of the vote recognizing Indigenous peoples in the constitution.

The Voice will set up a body to “submit matters to the Parliament and Executive Government of the Commonwealth on matters pertaining to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.”

A referendum can only be held if it is approved by a vast majority of Australians and also voted for by a majority of states.

On Wednesday, Mr Albanese defended the wording of the proposed indigenous vote, dismissing fears of challenges from the Supreme Court.

The prime minister said the prospect of cases being taken to the courts because of the wording had been shot down by Australia’s top constitutional law experts.

‘This is a legally sound proposal. It makes it very clear that parliament is in charge,” he told 2SM Sydney on Wednesday.

“There is no obligation and certainly there is no obligation for the government to agree to (action recommended by) the vote. There is a provision to make the voice heard, to at least put forward the points of view.’

It was also revealed earlier this month that Mr Albanian would be recruiting high-profile Australian sports stars to support the campaign.

He told Sky News the Voice already has the backing of major sporting codes and has been in talks with footy stars to speak out publicly in support of the vote.