Indigenous Voice to Parliament: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has ‘planned for the worst’

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has admitted he “arranged the worst” ahead of the Voice referendum.

As polls for the ‘Yes’ vote continue to fall nationally, Mr Albanese was also forced to shrug off suggestions. The Voice diverts his government’s attention from the cost-of-living crisis facing ordinary Australians.

The prospect of the October 14 referendum failing is something Albanese has previously said as a “hypothetical” that he doesn’t focus on.

Mr Albanese is at odds with the opposition, with coalition leader Peter Dutton firmly against the referendum.

The prime minister said he hoped he would gain bipartisan support for the Yes campaign, but admitted he had “expected the worst”.

“Politics will always be a challenge,” he said The Australian.

Dutton has promised to hold a second referendum if the Voice fails in October.

He will hold a referendum to constitutionally recognize Indigenous Australians without establishing a body.

“The problem is not that entertainers and people from the upper echelons of the city support or support The Voice, but that the Prime Minister does not want to support the public in their decision-making,” Dutton said.

“He is deliberately withholding information and withholding that information until after the election. He’s been very clear that he’ll give you the details after the vote has taken place, which is quite remarkable.’

Mr Albanese thinks he thought he would get credit for ‘having a crack’ and trying to hold a referendum.

A leading advocate for “Yes” blamed the declining “Yes” vote, which averages just over 46 percent in national polls, on the prime minister for the dwindling “Yes” vote.

Noted Jesuit and constitutional lawyer Father Frank Brennan wrote in the Weekend Australian the Voice faltered because of three ‘captain’s picks’ by Mr. Albanese, which had caused great division.

Father Brennan said the mistakes included choosing an expansive constitutional model for the Voice, abandoning a convention to involve the public in designing the body and instead negotiating it in secret with carefully selected working groups .

Although Father Brennan said he would vote yes, Mr Albanese’s decisions had left voters with a “treacherous choice.”

With the no vote rising, polls show, Albanese believed that even if the referendum fails, he will be viewed favorably because he “has a crack.”

“Regardless of the outcome, I hope no future Prime Minister makes another series of captain picks without a process of public involvement,” Father Brennan wrote.

“That’s no way to bring the country together.” Unfortunately, regardless of the outcome of the October 14 vote, the country will be divided.”

Mr Albanese has also had to ignore allegations that the timing of the referendum is bad as it distracts his government from the serious economic problems facing Australia, driving voters to increasingly outraged.

The Prime Minister said there was no ideal time for such a referendum and that now was as good a time as any.

“The question for me was considering all these people, (Tom) Calma, (Marcia) Langton, (Noel) Pearson, and the idea that I could say, ‘Hey, you know we said we’d have a referendum but we can ‘Don’t do it another year,’ he said.

“You just say, ‘Well, I’m ready, I believe in it, and I’m doing it’.”

Mr Albanese insisted his government could campaign for the Voice while tackling growing economic problems.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has accused the prime minister of taking his ‘eye off the ball’ on economic issues

“For the past week, we’ve focused on skills, resources, jobs, Medicare, things that have an impact,” he said.

“We’re focusing on cost-of-living pressures, a very broad economic agenda, an international agenda that includes trade and economic relations.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers echoed the Prime Minister’s message.

“We can focus on the pressures people are under and at the same time we can invest in the future of our country as we can get this done,” Dr Chalmers said.

“The cost of living is the primary concern of Australians and so rolling out billions of dollars of responsible cost-of-living relief is the government’s primary focus.”

In June, opposition leader Peter Dutton accused Mr Albanese that his ‘obsession with the vote’ distracted him ‘off the ball when it comes to economic policy’.