A media row has erupted after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese appeared to blame ‘white people’ for Indigenous Voice’s massive defeat in parliament.
During Question Time in Parliament on Monday, the Prime Minister was asked whether he still supported the rest of the Uluru Declaration, including Makaratta’s “truth telling” and a treaty.
But his response has created a political firestorm over what he actually said in response.
Television footage appears to show Mr Albanese saying: ‘Regardless of what the white people voted…’
However, the Prime Minister’s office insists he actually said: ‘…how people voted’.
A furious media row has erupted after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese appeared to blame ‘white people’ for the massive defeat of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament
Comments from Radio 2GB’s Ray Hadley and Sky News Australia presenter Paul Murray prompted a swift response from the Prime Minister’s office.
Hadley said he has been bombarded with messages from the prime minister’s staff since he first raised the apparently inflammatory comment.
“Haven’t we touched a nerve with the Prime Minister?” Hadley said this on his show on Tuesday. ‘I have never heard from the Prime Minister’s Office so often.
“They (mostly) don’t want to talk to us – and suddenly a flood of calls from outraged members of the bureau.”
Murray cast the response as an example of how out of touch the Prime Minister was, and as a denial of the catastrophic rejection of the Voice proposal.
“The idea that the 60/40 outcome is No is because white people voted against it. It’s a complete blind spot to what went wrong this weekend,” Murray said.
The Prime Minister’s media team referred questions to the official Hansard report of the session, which offers yet another version of what was said.
It says the Prime Minister said ‘regardless of the way people voted in this referendum’ – but audio and video footage from Parliament clearly shows this is not the full quote.
Some have compared the soundbite to the infamous blue dress/white dress meme that seemed to change color with every look and swept the internet in 2015.
Listeners to the Prime Minister’s comment were able to hear both the ‘road’ and ‘white’ versions of his response after repeated replays.
But comments condemning the Prime Minister’s response by Radio 2GB’s Ray Hadley and Sky News Australia presenter Paul Murray (pictured together) prompted a swift response from the Prime Minister’s office.
The Prime Minister’s media team referred questions to the official Hansard report of the session (pictured) – but that offers yet another version of what was said
2GB’s Ben Fordham also became involved in the row on Wednesday, but said he accepted the Prime Minister’s version of what was said.
“It sounded like he was saying, ‘no matter what white people voted,’” Fordham said on his show.
‘But the Prime Minister’s Office has been contacted and says he used the word ‘manner’. He was trying to say, “regardless of the way people voted.”
“When we played it yesterday, Ray Hadley suspected he had made a mistake. I accept the Prime Minister’s version of events.
“It’s more likely he was trying to say how people voted, rather than what it sounded like, how white people voted.
‘So, says the Prime Minister’s Office, if you go and look at Hansard, there is the word ‘road’ there, not white, and that makes more sense.
“If you look at the vision and listen to the audio, it looks and sounds like the word ‘white’ has been used, but I accept the Prime Minister’s Office’s version of events.”
2GB’s Ben Fordham also became involved in the row on Wednesday, but said he accepted the Prime Minister’s version of what was said
Hadley still insisted on his show that the Prime Minister would be honest and admit his blunder.
“We’re not suggesting he did it deliberately,” he said. “What we are suggesting is that he made a mistake.”
Hadley believes the Prime Minister’s office then forced Hansard to change the record to the sanitized version it published, which was strongly refuted by the PMO.
“Maybe he meant to say ‘how people vote,’ but it didn’t come out that way,” Hadley said.
“I’m sorry, Hansard may report ‘one way or the other’, but this is what the Prime Minister actually said in Parliament.
“He’s obviously bruised and suddenly, ‘How dare you question our integrity?’ How dare you? Of course we wouldn’t change Hansard.
‘No. Someone must have intervened. He made a mistake. I’m not crucifying him, but I’ll tell you what: they’re very sensitive after what happened this weekend.
‘They clearly haven’t slept…’