Despite polls showing a steady decline in voter support for the Voice, Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney’s faith that Australians will “rise to the occasion” remains unshaken.
Ahead of the final vote in parliament on Monday setting up the referendum, Ms Burney said the public vote would be a unifying moment for Australia.
“I know that Australians will rise to the occasion in terms of this referendum. I have so much faith in the Australian people,” she told Sky News on Sunday.
“The Constitution-alteration bill will move through the Senate and then we are off and racing in a full-scale referendum campaign.”
Once passed, the legislation will begin a countdown to when the referendum can be held. The government has flagged that it will be held between October and December.
While one recent opinion poll showed support the ‘yes’ vote had fallen below 50 per cent, Ms Burney said she was optimistic of the Voice’s success, invoking the challenges of other Indigenous rights campaigners in advocating for change.
“I think about people like Lowitja O’Donoghue, I think about people like Eddie Mabo, I think about people like Charles Parkins,” she said.
“They all had challenges … they all had mountains to climb and they were all successful.
“This is going to be hard, but now that we have almost finished the work in parliament, the campaign will kick in.”
The minister said while the ‘yes’ campaign was making decisions on boosting their message, she hit out at ‘no’ campaigners for spreading misinformation.
“(Misinformation) is the modus operandi of the ‘no’ campaign, they are intent on selling fear, they are intent on polarising people,” she said.
“One of the things I find alarming is the approach of the ‘no’ campaign to polarising people. This is a moment of unity.”
The comments follow on from a speech the minister gave last week where she described the ‘no’ campaign as importing “Trump-style politics” into the country.
-AAP
