Yes campaigners hurled virulent insults at No voters as clashes broke out at an anti-Voice rally last night.
Hundreds of angry Yes voters descended on Brisbane’s Royal International Convention Center on Wednesday night for the event, which included outspoken indigenous No campaigners Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Warren Mundine.
Guests were led to a back entrance, away from the angry crowd outside. But their chants were unmistakable, even with a glass wall separating them.
“Jacinta Price, you have chosen a side: genocide,” the demonstrators chanted.
“Jacinta Price, go to hell. Also take your racist shit,” they then said.
Protesters crashed the No campaign event, telling attendees they were ‘racists’, ‘bastards’ and ‘dogs’
There were no voters chanting her name and crowding the stage hoping to get a photo or have a private word with the Country Liberal Senator from Alice Springs
Within the confines of Hall C of the Royal International Convention Center in Brisbane, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price was treated like a rock star
Hundreds of people showed up for the No campaign
As the event ended, Yes protesters crowded the venue’s exits and began verbally abusing attendees as they tried to leave.
As protesters began migrating toward the parking lot The group’s leader took to the megaphone and shouted that Senator Price was “one of the most vile racists in the country.”
The comments infuriated No voters, who had just spent their night listening to Ms Price give a rousing speech about her concerns about an Indigenous voice in Parliament.
“She’s a hero,” someone shouted back.
Within the confines of the room, Senator Price was treated like a rock star.
There were no voters chanting her name and crowding the stage hoping to get a photo or have a private word with the Country Liberal Senator from Alice Springs.
But tensions on the outside ran high as guests at the No rally held up their own signs and proudly pointed out the merchandise they were wearing — mostly hats and shirts — in return to antagonize the protesters.
For the next 30 minutes, the two groups exchanged barbs as police tried to prevent the situation from escalating.
Yes, demonstrators crowded the venue’s exits and began verbally abusing attendees as they tried to leave
The group’s leader grabbed the microphone and shouted that Senator Price was “one of the most vile racists in the country.”
For the next 30 minutes, the two groups exchanged barbs as police tried to prevent the situation from escalating
Tensions rose as guests at the No rally held up their own signs and proudly pointed out the merchandise they were wearing — mostly hats and shirts — in return to antagonize the protesters.
Pictured: No voters holding up anti-Vote signs
Those in attendance – including journalists and photographers – were branded “racist bastards”, “thug dogs” and “racist dogs” by protesters, who wondered “how they can sleep at night” after holding rallies in favor of the No campaign attended.
One No voter who threw himself into the path of the protesters appeared to receive a slap in the face, as police lined the streets in an attempt to keep the two rowdy groups apart.
The aggressive display is just the latest example of the divisions among Australians as the debate over the Voice referendum heats up.
Just two weeks ago, no voters leaving a similar event in Adelaide were called ‘racist dogs’, ‘pigs’ and ‘crazy w***ers’.
But Jacinta Price and Warren Mundine are undeterred.
Backstage before they both greeted the audience, they were excited and excited to campaign. There were no signs of exhaustion, despite the intense schedule they had over the past few months
No voters and “undecideds” were excited to see Senator Price and Mr. Mundine speak
Senator Price noted that they had to order more merchandise during the campaign because the first order sold out
Backstage before they both greeted the audience, they were excited and excited to campaign. There were no signs of exhaustion, despite the intense schedule they had over the past few months.
Mundine was the first of the two to take the stage. He warmed up the crowd with a joke at Peter Fitzsimmons’ expense.
‘This referendum is more than what they talk about. All of us, whether we have been here for five minutes, chained here 200 years ago or been here for years, we have all joined forces and built a great nation,” he said.
“Multicultural, multiracial… we are so good here that we even love atheists. Until Peter Fitzsimmons becomes an atheist. But in any case.’
Mundine got a second crack later in his speech, this time during the Yes campaign.
He said: ‘The Yes campaign is all about the atmosphere. They talk like they’ve been to Nimbin and had a few joints.’
Police lined the streets to separate the Yes protesters from the No voters
Mundine was the first of the two to take the stage. He warmed up the crowd with a joke at Peter Fitzsimmons’ expense
‘We are concerned with real solutions and responsibility. We want results. We don’t want to spend all this money without any results.
‘Education is the key. My parents had very limited education, but they made sure we came to school every day and got an education.”
The audience cheered and clapped, but when Ms. Price stepped onto the stage, there was no doubt that her speech was the headline act.
As she exchanged kisses and circled the stage, someone from the audience shouted: ‘you are my prime minister’. Those gathered erupted again.
“Now that we know why we ran out of our first batch of merchandise, Queensland has ordered everything,” she said.
“We have been subjected to identity politics, to guilt politics, we have been told that we are a racist country and these are all absolute lies and we don’t know it. Enough is damn enough.
Mundine got a second crack later in his speech, this time during the Yes campaign. He said: ‘The Yes campaign is all about the atmosphere. They talk like they’ve been to Nimbin and had a few joints.”
When Ms. Price took the stage, there was no doubt that her speech was the headline act
“We will no longer be subject to gaslighting, bullying and manipulation.
“We will no longer be the silent Australians. We will be the loud Australians, the passionate Australians who want the best for us all.”
The Sunshine State has long been considered a “safe” no vote, home to some of the country’s most conservative voters.
But the official Yes camp has repeatedly expressed hope that it can win over Queensland over the course of the campaign, mindful of the need to win four of the six states to secure victory on October 14.
Guests told Daily Mail Australia they came to find out more about the referendum. Many said they were indecisive or a “soft” voter who could be influenced either way.
But inside the venue, the crowd was a sea of Vote No merchandise: shirts, hats and corflutes as far as the eye could see in every direction.