Abbie Chatfield shares her struggles ‘as a white person’ to vote in the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum as she reveals her final decision after researching both sides
Abby Chatfield has revealed how she is voting in the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum.
In a lengthy post, the podcaster, 28, said she voted yes after spending the past year researching both sides of the debate.
The former Bachelor star also admitted that she found it difficult to vote “as a white person” because it should only include First Nations people.
She continued to ‘see how First Nations people would vote’ by talking to her friends, watching debates, following polls and actively seeking out diverse Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices on social media.
“I just wanted to vote in a way that would represent First Nations people,” she said.
Media personality Abby Chatfield has revealed she is voting in the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum
The podcaster, 28, said she voted yes after spending the past year researching both sides of the debate
“As a white person, I understand that I will never fully understand Indigenous issues, no matter how much ‘research’ I do, and First Nations people are by no means homogenous,” she continued.
“That is why the content I have shared is the information that I believe most directly and clearly reflects the views of those who will be affected by the referendum.”
Abby added that it was not her place “as a white person to prioritize my opinion over the voices of indigenous peoples.”
After explaining that she had also listened to progressive No voters and could “fully acknowledge their views”, she ultimately decided to vote Yes.
It comes just days after the No campaign released shocking new data on how Indigenous people intend to vote, casting doubt on the Yes campaign’s big claim.
The former Bachelor star also admitted in a lengthy post that she found it difficult “as a white person” to even vote because it’s only supposed to include First Nations people
The Yes23 campaign has repeatedly said 80 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people support Voice, a figure also used by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
But the No camp says an internal poll of First Nations people has shown support for the referendum is far lower than the Yes side claims.
A poll in February showed Indigenous support for the Voice was 60 per cent – at a time when overall support in the general community was almost the same at 59 per cent.
By May, the number of Indigenous people supporting the Voice had fallen to 57 per cent, and to 54 per cent among all Australians, the Sunday Telegraph reported.
The 80 percent figure is based on January and March polls conducted by Ipsos and YouGov, which showed support for Voice among Indigenous Australians at 80 percent and 83 percent, respectively.
A spokesman for the No campaign said its figures, of support ranging from 57 to 60 per cent, instead of 80 to 83 per cent, “reject the Yes campaign’s claim that Indigenous Australians overwhelmingly support the Voice – that is not true”.
“It is a lie that has supported their campaign for months. The experience on the ground is clear — Indigenous Australians are just as divided over the Voice as anyone else.’
The Prime Minister said he believed the Yes campaign could win
The Camp Noe survey was conducted online, which “is skewed towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have internet access” and “does not include face-to-face in remote communities”.
But the Ipsos and YouGov polls were also conducted online.
Early polling stations opened in some states on Monday, and all across Australia were open until Tuesday due to a public holiday in some jurisdictions.
Like about 2.2 million Australians, Mr Albanese has already voted in the referendum, doing so on Saturday in his electorate of Maryville in Sydney’s inner west.
“Yes to recognition, yes to listening, yes to better results,” Mr Albanez wrote in a post on social media, alongside a photo of himself putting his vote in the ballot box with his son Nathan.
If the yes vote is successful, Voice will allow Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to advise the government on policy and legislative issues that directly affect them.
The latest Newspoll suggested a vote to fail by 36 percent to 56 percent.
Meanwhile, former Chief Justice of Australia Robert French KC says Australians are “better off” sticking to the No campaign slogan “if you don’t know, vote no” in an address to the National Press Club on Friday.
“It calls us to embittered, unquestioning passivity.” Australians – whether they vote yes or no – are better than that,” he said.
‘We are looking forward. We can also look back to better understand where we came from and where we are now.’
The vast majority of legal experts in Australia say the proposed amendment being voted on by Australians is constitutionally sound and would “improve” the system of government, French said.
The Yes23 campaign was contacted by Daily Mail Australia but declined to comment.