Racist letter left in Yes supporter’s letterbox in Sunbury as Indigenous Voice debate turns ugly
A leadership mentor has been left shocked after receiving a vile and racist letter criticizing him for supporting the Voice referendum.
Dr. Richard Hodge found the letter in the letterbox of his home in Sunbury, north-west Melbourne, on Monday.
The letter was filled with a number of vile racist comments in which Dr. Hodge was called a ‘fake c**n’ and ‘virtue signaler’ before making several insults at Indigenous Australians.
“What do the A*** do for Australia other than suck $34 billion out of the Australian taxpayer every year,” it said.
Dr. Hodge was shocked to hear the letter had been sent from the Brisbane suburb of Northgate, 1,800 kilometers from his home.
A leadership mentor with a Vote Yes sign on his lawn (pictured) has become the target of vile racist abuse for voicing his support for an Indigenous voice to Parliament
Dr. Hodge was shocked to realize the letter (pictured) had been sent to his home in Sunbury, Victoria from the Brisbane suburb of Northgate, 1,800km away.
“So this is an organized campaign,” the former Australian Defense Force scientist told Daily Mail Australia.
“This isn’t some upstart who’s angry in the neighborhood.”
Dr. Hodge believes a disgruntled local resident told someone in Queensland he had put up a Vote Yes sign, which led to the disturbing letter being sent to his home.
The letter was postmarked September 13, a week after Dr. Hodge put up the sign.
He said the letter made him feel like he had been “kicked in the guts” and compared it to how he felt years ago when his house was broken into.
“Things were being destroyed in the house at the time, and that empty feeling was the only other time I’ve felt like that,” Dr. Hodge said.
“But this was actually worse because of the despicable nature of the abuse.”
Dr. Hodge contacted police about the letter and posted the message in a fiery Twitter post.
“The behavior we ignore is the behavior we accept,” he wrote.
He said the kind of debate that leads to insulting letters being sent to people to express their views on a referendum question was “taken from Trump’s playbook in America.”
‘It encourages people to shout all kinds of mean things and ignore common sense. I especially mention Peter Dutton, he has done nothing but amplify it by continuously pouring fuel on the flames.
“This is a symptom of the lack of leadership at the political level,” he said.
With 25 days to go until the October 14 referendum, there are fears that hostility between residents with opposing views will worsen.
The Yes campaign hopes its latest ad campaign, featuring a young Indigenous boy asking simple questions, will change the way people plan to vote, as all recent polls say it is heading for a major defeat.
Dr. Richard Hodge (pictured) tweeted the anonymous letter, calling him a ‘Fake c**n’, to show the abuse used in the October 14 referendum campaign
Employment-oriented advertising expert Dee Madigan said the ad “empowers the viewer” and that using a child in a TV ad was “smart because parents instinctively listen when they hear a child’s voice so it breaks through.”
The ending line – “yes makes it possible” – is “extremely powerful,” she said, before calling it a “good ad.”
The Resolve Political Monitor’s latest survey found that only 43 percent of voters supported a plan to enshrine the Vote in the Constitution, a drop of 20 percentage points from a year ago.
It remains to be seen whether the advert with the young boy will have the same effect as the advert using the John Farnham song You’re The Voice – that people will like the advert, but it won’t make them more likely to say ‘yes’ to vote.