Only one in 10 Australians believe the Voice to Parliament is important amid rising cost-of-living pressures and rising inflation, new data shows.
New figures from JWS Research showed that three quarters of Australians would prefer the government to focus its efforts on alleviating the cost of living crisis.
The survey found that, after the cost of living, 58 percent of households rated hospitals, health care and aging as the second most important, while housing and interest rates were cited by 53 percent of respondents.
Indigenous issues, including The Voice, ranked 15th out of the 22 issues respondents were asked about, meaning only one in ten Aussies thought it was important.
New data from JWS Research found that three-quarters of Australians would prefer the Albanian government to focus on the cost of living, over the Voice to Parliament
The Albanian government was awarded a performance index of only 29 for its handling of the cost of living crisis and 30 for its handling of housing and interest rates.
The same voters were asked if they planned to vote yes or no in the upcoming referendum on The Voice, scheduled for October.
Of the 1,225 polled, 46 percent said they would vote yes, 43 percent said they would vote no, and 11 percent said they hadn’t decided yet.
The latest survey showed that the vote was in favor, since the last JWS survey in February fell from 51 percent to 46 percent.
This means that the no vote not only attracts people who previously thought they would vote yes, but also people who previously had doubts.
The data found showed that men were more likely to be against the Voice than women, with 50 percent of men planning to vote no, compared to 37 percent of women.
Only eight percent were unsure, compared to 14 percent of women.
One key state that saw the biggest vote change since February was NSW.
Earlier this year, 52 percent of voters said they would vote yes in the upcoming referendum, but that number fell to 41 percent, while the no vote rose from 32 percent to 47 percent.
The no vote in Queensland rose from 38 per cent in February to 46 per cent, while the yes vote fell from 48 per cent to 45 per cent.
The only state where the yes vote saw a jump in support was Western Australia, where 61 percent of people would vote yes.
The Yes campaign, led by Mr Albanese, claims the vote will help unite Australia by giving Indigenous Australians a say in policies that affect their communities.
The No campaign, led by Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, says the Voice’s true powers have not been made clear and it will only bring “symbolic” change.
Last week, a bill regulating the referendum was finally backed by the leader of the opposition, Peter Dutton, despite the politician opposing the Voice itself
Mr Albanese responded to claims of dwindling support for The Voice during an appearance on the Today Show on Monday.
The Prime Minister was asked if he was concerned about the latest poll results.
“We’ll be there to present the case,” he said.
‘The case of recognizing Indigenous Australians in our Constitution. The cause of giving them a voice, an advisory body that will provide advice on issues affecting Indigenous Australians.
‘It is logical. You’ll get better results if you listen to people directly affected by the policy. We will make that case very strong.’
Mr Albanese said he was ‘very confident’ ahead of the referendum.
“I have my confidence in the Australian people that they will examine the wording that is out there and they will say, ‘Yes, it’s time we recognized the first Australians in our country’s constitution,'” he said.
A bill regulating the referendum passed the Senate by a vote of 52 to 19 on Thursday.
The bill was eventually supported by the Leader of the Opposition, Peter Dutton, despite the politician opposing the Voice itself.