Support for an indigenous vote in parliament has plummeted as the yes vote faced defeat on both key referendum measures for the first time.
In a dramatic blow to the Albanian government’s cherished policy center, the vote now garners less than 50 percent of the total electorate’s support, while the yes vote appears to be in only two states.
The referendum to create the vote as a means of constitutional recognition for indigenous peoples can only be passed by a majority vote and must also be approved by a majority of states.
According to the latest Newspoll of 2,303 voters conducted between June 16 and June 24, overall support for the vote is down three points to just 43 percent.
Subsequently, the no vote rose four points to 47 percent, a lead for the time since Newspoll began tracking support.
Equally alarming for the Yes case is that four of the six states are now voting for a No vote.
Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania are all on track to reject the vote.
Support for an Indigenous vote in parliament has fallen in a new poll showing the no vote is leading among voters at large and in a majority of states
Only Victoria and NSW recorded a majority supporting the Yes vote, according to an aggregated Newspoll of 3,852 voters conducted between May 31 and June 24.
Both Labor and Coalition voters went to the no camp, but there was also a steep seven-point drop in support from 35 to 49 year old voters, with the yes vote collapsing from 53 per cent to 44 per cent .
Women’s support is also below 50 percent, only rising above that for university graduates between the ages of 18 and 34.
Victorian voters are the strongest supporters of the ‘yes’ cause, with 48 per cent in favor and only 41 per cent against.
The split in NSW is 46 percent in favor and 41 percent against, but there is still 13 percent undecided, which is the highest number among the states.
Queensland was the most opposed state, with a ‘no’ vote of 54 per cent to only 40 per cent in favour.
Western Australia reported that 52 per cent of voters were against, compared to 39 per cent for, while in Tasmania the ‘no’ vote was 48 per cent, compared to 43 per cent for yes.
South Australia was the most evenly split state with 46 percent against and 45 percent in favor of the change.
The latest results will encourage opposition leader Peter Dutton to step up his call to scrap the referendum, despite legislation enabling it this week.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been put on the defensive as questions arise over The Voice details
Mr Dutton suggested that ‘the vote is going down’ and said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese should cut his losses because the referendum, due to be held at a date to be determined, would only divide the country.
The Liberal leader questioned whether campaigning for a vote in parliament was the best use of government time amid a crippling cost-of-living crisis.
‘[People] can’t pay their mortgages, and you’re letting the government indulge in this romp on the Voice and these other agendas that don’t deliver national unity,” Dutton told Sydney radio station 2GB on Thursday.
Mr Albanese has assured the public that his vision is a ‘modest’ request that will have little impact on the lives of most Australians but would be fundamental in bringing hope to First Nations people.
However, public statements by a prominent ‘Yes’ campaigner and architect from The Voice contradicted this by setting out a radical vision of how the body would shape life in Australia.
Unionist Thomas Mayo, who is one of the signatories to Voice template document the Uluru Statement from the Heart, said earlier that he envisions the body ushering in “rent” for indigenous peoples and the abolition of “harmful colonial institutions.”
Thomas Mayo (pictured left with Indigenous Affairs Minister Linda Burney) has become one of the most prominent campaigners on The Voice following his contribution to the creation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart in 2017
A series of tweets from 2018 by Mr Mayo show him pushing for an eventual treaty returning land to First Nations people.
Members of the government have also consistently struggled to accurately answer questions about the Voice, what its scope would be and how it would function.
In a rousing interview aired on Channel 10’s The Project on Wednesday, Mr Albanese said members of The Voice would be ‘chosen’.
However, this is not the advice given earlier, in which the members of the states will be appointed by indigenous communities according to their customs.