Indigenous Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price warns Australians to expect “as much emotional blackmail as possible” from the pro-Voice advocates, as she points out the government has already started “shying away from using the Voice word.”
The Australian’s Columnist Chris Mitchell says the government’s strategy for the upcoming referendum is going “headlong” into the question of the Voice and endorsing the Uluru Statement without having thought out what it would be.
“Has been exposed as a pretty poor way to tackle the referendum,” Mr Mitchell told Sky News host Sharri Markson.
Speaking to Sky News Australia, Senator Price said she expected the Voice to Parliament Yes campaign would be using “as much emotional blackmail as possible” in an effort to get Australians to support the proposed constitutional reform.
The shadow Indigenous Australians minister, who is also a prominent critic of the Voice to Parliament proposal, pointed out that the Albanese government was now “shying away from using the voice word” – instead talking about the referendum in terms of “reconciliation” and “constitutional recognition.”
Shadow Indigenous Australians Minister Jacinta Nampijinpa Price warned Australians to expect “emotional blackmail” from the Yes campaign during the Voice to Parliament referendum. Picture: Sky News Australia.
“They’ve been harping on about the Voice to Parliament for so long now. But they realise –the polls are telling them and the research is telling them – that Australians aren’t in support of this detail-less voice body,” Senator Price said
“They do know that Australians would be able to support recognition. So that’s why their tactics are changing, in a really grasping-at-straws attempt to scratch back support for the Yes vote in this way.”
However the Alice Springs local said Australians “are not silly” and could see through this “manipulative wordplay.”
Loading embed…
Senator Price said she did not know when the Albanese government was planning to hold the referendum – which could be any time between late August and late December 2023 – but she said the government needed to set a date sooner rather than later.
“It’s a sense of limbo going on at the moment and Australians are still calling out for detail, which they are not getting,” the Northern Territory senator said.
“We (are) continually told it’ll be up to the Parliament once the referendum has passed to determine what the Voice is.
“So anything that they do speculate on now, you can forget about it, because ultimately those decisions aren’t going to be made until after it has passed.”
The Coalition senator said she was “pretty sure” the Albanese government have a plan for what the Voice will look like if it’s approved at the referendum.
“They’re just not wanting to share it with the Australian people because the Australian people aren’t silly and they would absolutely be voting No if they saw what their real plan was,” the shadow minister said.
Indigenous senator Jacinta Price says statements by leading Voice supporter Thomas Mayo – unearthed and released by No campaigners – reveal the “underlying agenda” behind the Voice to Parliament proposal.https://t.co/1bJovmvv9y
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) June 19, 2023
Senator Price said Australians should “get informed” before it is too late.
“I would encourage Australians to really understand. Get informed, absolutely get informed,” she said.
“Go to the Fair Australia website to find out exactly why we’re saying No to this referendum… and share that far and wide.
“Be informed before you cast your vote at the referendum.”