Voice advocate Thomas Mayo says Australia is a nation ‘frozen in time’ and says the mental health of Indigenous people were affected
One of the leading campaigners for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament has described Australia as a ‘nation frozen in time’ in an attempt to explain what went wrong during the historic referendum campaign.
Thomas Mayo was one of the most divisive figures during the campaign, and earlier comments he made about linking the Vote to treaties and telling the truth were seized upon by critics in the early days as examples of the potential risks posed by the proposal were connected.
Now, almost a month after the night of the referendum – in which 60 percent of Australia and all six states voted against the proposal – Mr Mayo has tried to explain the outcome on the world stage.
Speaking to BBC UK’s ‘The Inquiry’ podcast, Mayo blamed the opposition for their decision to oppose The Voice.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had committed to a vote from the moment he took the top job, and supporters say the opposition has politicized the low-level political point-scoring proposal.
Thomas Mayo was one of the most divisive figures during the campaign, and earlier comments he made about linking the Voice to treaties and truth-telling were initially seized upon by critics as examples of the potential risks involved the proposal were connected.
“We fought on so many fronts, but the ultimate destruction of the opportunity came when the opposition decided to go against it,” he told host David Baker.
‘No referendum has ever been won in this country without support from both parties, but mainly because they fought it so hard and so fiercely.’
Mr Mayo acknowledged that the Yes campaigns had failed to deliver a clear and concise message, a fact that confused voters and in some cases prompted them to seek information from the No camp.
Now, following the decisive no vote on October 14, Mayo describes Australia as ‘a nation frozen in time’.
“(It) is not a good place for the indigenous people,” he said.
“This is not a good thing for our country. We need to look at why this referendum, which was so important to national interests, failed.”
There were tears and strong emotions on the night of the referendum, when Yes’ supporters very quickly realized that there was no path to victory
Pictured: A Yes supporter reacts to the official Yes campaign event on the evening of the referendum
Mr Mayo told the podcast that the mental health of First Nations people deteriorated during the campaign, and that the vitriol deterred some supporters from volunteering.
“The intensity of it, the amount of it, I think was unprecedented in this country,” he said.
‘I’m not naive.
“I was on the receiving end. It really becomes something that was quite damaging. It affected the mental health of the indigenous people during the campaign.”
Mr Mayo described the ‘aching, aching emptiness in (his) chest’ and the ‘slap in the face’ the moment he realized Australia had voted ‘no’.
He also criticized the opposition’s attempts to “make it about race,” which he said were “false” and “misled people that it was risky.”
“It wasn’t about race,” he said. “Indigenous people are not a different race. We are a distinct people with a heritage and culture tied to this place.
‘We deserved recognition. It was a simple message… but we just couldn’t get through it.”
But he did say there was something positive to take from the referendum result, which was that 40 percent of Australians – about five million people – voted in favor of the proposal.
Thomas Mayo spoke at the event and denounced the No campaign that opposed the Voice
Mayo says he is heartbroken over the outcome and acknowledges there will be no constitutional recognition in his lifetime
Mr Albanese and Ms Burney immediately conceded defeat after polls closed in WA – before counting had even started. At that moment there was no longer a path to victory
While it wasn’t enough to get the Voice over, it did bring it ‘to people’s kitchen tables’. Mr Mayo acknowledged that for many Australians, the “entrenched disadvantage of Indigenous people is not something they normally think about”.
Looking ahead, Mr Mayo pledged to continue to advocate for the implementation of the Uluru Declaration from the heart – just not for constitutional recognition.
“That won’t happen in my lifetime,” he admitted. ‘But I do believe that other people will do it, because we see from the opinion polls that young people voted ‘Yes’.
“Our children are being educated in a different way about the truth of our colonial past and why we have these differences in the present.”
Despite Mr Mayo’s commitment to the Uluru Declaration from the heart, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Labor government have yet to chart their own path forward in the Indigenous Affairs portfolio.
Initially, the plan was to establish a Makarrata Commission to work alongside the Voice to Parliament, with the aim of establishing a treaty and truth-telling process.
But critics say pursuing that project would directly conflict with the outcome of the referendum process – despite the referendum question not explicitly mentioning Makarrata.
Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney says she is waiting for consultation with First Nations communities – who mourned and took a vow of silence in the wake of the referendum defeat – before making any concrete decisions.
Yes campaigners had long warned that a No vote would have consequences for Australia’s international status.
The BBC podcast episode was entitled: ‘What went wrong with Australia’s Indigenous call for a voice?’ and with Mr Mayo, along with three academics who each explained why the Voice failed.