Over the weekend, Warren Mundine revealed that migrant communities were “deliberately targeted” by the No campaign because of the natural distrust some have of governments, given persecution in their homelands. Maybe that seems like an obvious tactic, but it’s concerning how easily the campaign weaponised immigrants’ vulnerabilities.
After the No campaign successfully ensured an Indigenous Voice to Parliament would not be enshrined into the Constitution, Warren Mundine, a Bundjalung man and the leading No campaigner, told Sky News that a strategy that helped defeat the referendum was targeting of migrants.
He said that “some of them come from countries where they were second-class citizens”, per Guardian Australia, and that this meant they were open to the No campaign’s insistence that the Voice would cause some kind of racial divide between migrants and First Nations people, who he previously said should *both* be recognised in the Constitution.
“We knew that the migrant community is 50 per cent of Australia, either born overseas or their parents have been born overseas. We deliberately target[ed] that group,” he said, according to Guardian Australia’s live blog.
As someone who comes from a Pakistani immigrant family and is first generation Australian (my family voted “yes”), I’m genuinely shocked at how open the No campaign is being about its targeting of a vulnerable group’s concerns, especially given what migrant communities in Australia have endured over the past few years.
During the lockdown we endured in 2021, Sydney saw vast inequality in the way mask mandates and lockdown curfews were implemented and enforced, with areas that had high migrant populations (AKA Western Sydney) seeing brutal police crackdowns, versus Bondi beach goers who were defended for not wearing masks because “fresh air is the safest place to be”.
One man from Western Sydney, Bilal Ladkani, was handcuffed by police for not wearing a mask outside — allegedly because of a heart condition. He collapsed mid-violent arrest, and had to be revived with a defibrillator and CPR while still in handcuffs.
NSW’s deputy premier at the time, John Barilaro, actually admitted Western Sydney was only subject to stricter rules than other areas because of racist media pressure.
My point is, migrant communities have not just been “second class citizens” in their own countries, but here too.
It’s partially this, and their own histories, that leaves migrant communities vulnerable to potential misinformation, be it about the Voice, or even about vaccinations as we saw during the pandemic.
When you come from a country where you actually do have to get news from alternative sources because of a corrupt government’s political bias, you’re naturally going to feel that same scepticism here.
Obviously, there’s room for argument that the Yes campaign could have done more to reach migrant communities, who also face language barriers and confusion around Australia’s political makeup and electoral process. Initial polling indicated our communities were leaning towards a Yes vote, which is something that clearly sparked action by the No campaign.
However, for the (mostly conservative) No campaign — one that has claimed the Indigenous Voice to Parliament will “divide us by race” — to take advantage of migrant communities’ feelings of confusion and distrust and weaponise that against Indigenous people who have called for a Voice is shameful.
Whether you are a “Yes” or “No” voter, migrant distrust in the government should not be used to pit us against other oppressed folk.
Migrant communities like mine have more in common with First Nations people seeking representation, whether that is through a voice, or — as Progressive No voters have called for — a treaty, than we do with groups who lean into racist ideas of competition and divisiveness.
We should not be treated as some kind of political pawn, easily manipulated and swayed to aid conservative parties, but as people who have faced persecution that has made us cautious and concerned about our place in what has proved to be a racist Australian society.
Image: Asanka Ratnayake / Getty Images
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