Voice ads ‘deceptive’
Yes camp steals a ride with recognition, says Dutton
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says the “Yes” campaign for the upcoming referendum is misleading Australians with “deceptive” advertisements.
With anywhere between four and six months remaining before Australians head to the polls to vote in the first referendum since last century, both sides of the campaign are solidifying their stance.
Mr Dutton on Monday questioned how the ads that premiered last month can talk about recognition – which he supports – but “make no mention of the Voice”.
Mr Dutton said “that shows you that there’s either a problem with the brand or people are deliberately keeping the information from Australians”.
“I just don’t think Australians will cop that,” he said.
Mr Dutton also doubled down on claims he made in a speech to parliament last week, in which he said the Voice risked “re-racialising” the country. In doing so he ignored race discrimination commissioner Chin Tan’s request to politicians to avoid making race the focus of the Voice debate.
Mr Dutton’s speech last week said the Voice would divide the country and he repeated his argument on Monday, saying while there needed to be respectful debate, Australians were demanding they “just be given the facts”.
“I think a lot of people … want to know whether (the Voice) is going to improve the lives of Indigenous Australians, whether it’s going to be a practical body, where those solutions can be found quickly, or whether it’s just going to be another layer of bureaucracy,” he said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the referendum would “lead to a more united Australia”, and “we’ll be stronger and more united”.
However “No” campaigner Warren Mundine said Mr Dutton was “spot on”.
“This is turning into a very divisive, very hate-filled campaign,” he said. “The campaign hasn’t even started yet. I just find it bizarre that these people who are supposed to be ‘yes’ supporters and ‘yes’ campaigners, who are looking at us to be the people who are dividing this country … this referendum is dividing Australia.”
The Opposition’s foreign affairs spokesman James Patterson also voiced his concern about the risk of racial abuse.
Senator Patterson also stood behind Mr Dutton’s claims of a “re-racialising” Voice, saying the very premise of the Voice was to treat a group of Australians differently.
“Now, you could say that it’s on the basis of their race, or if you prefer we could say it’s based on their heritage or their ancestry … or their Indigeneity. But either way, what we’re doing is putting into our Constitution something which treats people differently because of a characteristic with which they have no control,” he said. “I think that’s offensive to liberal principles.”