Referendum votes: New poll shows referendum support has fallen to a new low
Support for the Indigenous Voice to Parliament has fallen to a new low, with every state except Tasmania on the verge of voting ‘no’, while Anthony Albanese’s performance rating plummets.
The latest Resolve Political Monitor survey, published in Nine newspapers on Monday, found that 43 percent of voters supported a plan to enshrine indigenous voices in the constitution, a drop of 20 percentage points from a year ago.
Over the past month, the percentage of voters who are certain they will vote ‘no’ has increased from 33 percent to 37 percent, while the percentage of voters who say they are likely to vote ‘no’ remains unchanged at 12 percent.
According to the poll, 16 percent of voters are still undecided.
The percentage of Australians in favor of the referendum has fallen for the fifth month in a row, and since the last survey Victoria has moved to a majority No state, leaving Tasmania as the only jurisdiction left in the Yes camp.
To pass, the “Yes” campaign will need more than 50 percent of the vote nationwide and in four of the six states.
Support for the Indigenous Voice to Parliament has fallen, along with support for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (pictured) in the latest poll
Mr Albanese and Labor have also taken a hit in the polling, with the Prime Minister’s net performance falling to minus 7 per cent.
However, as preferred prime minister, he is still far ahead of opposition leader Peter Dutton.
About 43 percent of voters chose Mr Albanese as prime minister, while 28 percent backed Mr Dutton. Meanwhile, about 29 percent were still undecided.
This represents a slight narrowing of the gap compared to the previous poll, which had Mr Albanese at 46 per cent and Mr Dutton at 25 per cent.
Resolve director Jim Reed claimed that the results showed that support for the No campaign was ‘still growing’ and that the recent ad campaign featuring John Farnham’s iconic song ‘You’re the Voice’ did little for the Yes camp .
“The more people participate in the debate, and the more they consider the proposal, the more they are put off,” he said.
‘The responses we collect from respondents become increasingly irritated and frustrated in tone as the campaign progresses. Many people seem impatient for this to be over, especially those who see it as a distraction or divisive.”
Tasmania is now the only state where the Yes vote is paramount, with voters in every other state favoring the No camp (pictured, Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney (centre) at a Yes23 event on the Gold Coast)
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said there are still many undecided voters who could be convinced when asked about the poll results.
“We’re going to ask them to vote ‘yes’ because this recognizes 65,000 years of Australian history,” she told Seven’s Sunrise on Monday.
‘This idea came from the Aboriginals, more than 80 percent of them support it. This is not a committee that has a veto over parliament. It doesn’t stop things from happening.
‘It is a committee that gives advice, it is really a lot less scary than some of the No campaign make it seem.’
However, critics of the referendum, including National MP Barnaby Joyce, claim the Vote is not transparent.
“It will fundamentally change the way this country works and that’s why people are turning away from it,” he said.
The Resolve Political Monitor surveyed 1,604 eligible voters.
The Voice referendum will take place on October 14.
Mr Dutton has promised to hold a second referendum if the upcoming vote fails and the coalition returns to power.