Peter O’Brien Quadrant Online 5th October 2023
For once I must agree with Chris Kenny on one aspect, at least, of the current Voice debate. Last night he took issue with the characterisation, by most Sky News commentators, of Ray Martin’s comments regarding the mantra ‘if you don’t know, vote no’. Martin was accused of describing No voters as ‘dickheads and dinosaurs’. That is not what he said. What he said was that people whose voting intention is based on this refrain are ‘dickheads and dinosaurs’.
A bit harsh, but I would argue that if this was your first and only basis of reasoning, then the cap probably fits. As I say in my book The Indigenous Voice to Parliament – the No Case:
Failure of the referendum will be attended by shrieks of racism, protests and possibly violence. That would be a regrettable situation, but preventing such an outcome would be a very flimsy and cowardly reason to simply go with the flow and vote Yes.
On the other hand, we often hear the simplistic refrain ‘if you don’t understand it, don’t vote for it’. That is not a valid basis to vote No.
If you don’t understand it, then you should find out about it. That is the purpose of this booklet. To give you the information you need to make an informed decision and to be able to defend it – to yourself and to others.
I believe it is not enough that this referendum should fail. In the interests of good governance and a united Australia, it should fail convincingly. And it should do so on the basis of a thorough understanding by all voters of its inherent dangers and weaknesses.
It should neither succeed nor fail on the basis of emotional feelgood rhetoric on the one hand, or intuitive distrust on the other.
If its supporters believe it failed because people did not understand the detail, they will simply try again later, and this issue will remain a festering sore in our public discourse for years to come. It must fail on principle, not detail.
I have made that point repeatedly in my articles and in ADHTV interviews with Professor David Flint on Save the Nation.
If, on the other hand, you have studied both sides assiduously and cannot decide one way or the other, this means the Yes case has not convinced you that this constitutional amendment is desirable and safe – in other words you don’t know – then you must exercise caution and vote No.
However, Martin then went on to say that ‘at this stage, the details don’t matter’, which pretty much undercuts his argument that voters who don’t know, should find out. Kenny didn’t bother to add that bit.
Not to cut Kenny any further slack, he also addressed criticism of Noel Peason’s remarks regarding migrant communities. One of the critics was Rowan Dean. Here is what he reported from Pearson’s speech:
I say to multicultural communities in the campaign that I am involved [with] around the country. I say to them, “Listen, where do you fit into Australia? It’s a bit unclear. Are you with the mob from the UK? Are you kind of honorary settlers? Because some of you are the wrong colour. Or you don’t come from Northern Europe. You come from Africa, you come from Asia, you come from South America – you come from all over the joint. You come from China. I say to them, where do you fit in Australia?”
Here is a summary of Dean’s response:
So, let me just say this to you, Noel Pearson, that was absolutely disgusting.
Every one of us in Australia strives to make this the most successful multi-racial nation on Earth, and how dare you, Noel Pearson, sit there and say that somehow we – white Northern European Anglos – are ‘different’ … that you’ve got to choose between the two mobs. How dare you!
Kenny took issue with this last night as well, not citing Rowan Dean but an ad from Fair Australia. He claimed critics were accusing Pearson of making the very opposite point he was making. He played the rest of Pearson’s comments to prove his point:
Because we can move to an Australia where the indigenous, the British descendants and the multi-cultural mob become one. And we all know we’re Australians. There’s no priority among us. We’re all equally Australians and the settler/native thing kind of retreats into history. It will be a great day when we do that. A great day for multicultural communities too. Because they’ll know unequivocally that they are Australians as much as the rest of us. As much as the whitefellas from the United Kingdom, as much as the blackfellas from Australia. The multicultural communities are Australians.
Kenny’s conclusion:
Yeah, great aspiration there from Noel Pearson. But disgraceful isn’t it that Noel Pearson preaches unity and so-called Fair Australia clips it up and spins it as disunity.
Kenny might need a refresher course in comprehension. What Pearson is saying is that, right now, we are not united. That Anglo- or European-Australians do not really regard the recent arrivals from non-European communities as Australians. Or for that matter, Aboriginal Australians.
Or maybe he’s saying that Aborigines don’t accept either what he calls the ‘settler’ community or the “multicultural mob” as Australians — and that only when we have an Aboriginal-only Voice to Parliament entrenched in our Constitution will we be united. He might be preaching unity but it’s unity on his terms. Either way, that is, undoubtedly, divisive.
Kenny, earlier in his program, complained that many viewers were saying they will no longer watch him because he supports the Voice. That is not true. He is losing support because of the disingenuous, and dismissive, way in which he supports a very bad idea.
Nelle's journey 