A key independent senator says the federal government should start thinking about a “Plan B” for improving Indigenous wellbeing, as support drops for the voice.
The latest Newspoll shows support for the referendum to recognise Indigenous Australians by inserting a voice into the constitution has dropped to 41 per cent.
Support among female voters was 38 per cent while 45 per cent of men backed the constitutional change.
Support for the ‘no’ vote in the regions has grown to 62 per cent, with only 31 per cent in favour of the voice.
The government has argued the voice to parliament will improve the way services are rolled out to close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous wellbeing.
Tasmanian independent senator Jacqui Lambie said the drop in support was concerning, especially as there was a great need to reduce violence and improve conditions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.
“I want to know what is their Plan B if this doesn’t get up,” she told Sky News on Monday.
“They had better come up with a back-up plan.”
The Australian Electoral Commission will on Tuesday publish the official ‘yes’ and ‘no’ cases on its website, ahead of a booklet being posted to voters.
Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney said drafting the official ‘yes’ case had been a collaborative process taking in the best arguments in support of the voice across the parliament.
“A voice is an idea many years in the making and many Indigenous Australians have put a great deal of hard work into achieving constitutional recognition,” she said.
“I encourage Australians to join this national conversation about constitutional recognition through a voice and consider how we can make practical change that will improve lives.”
Liberals for Yes campaign working group member Sean Gordon noted former prime minister John Howard had committed to constitutional recognition.
“In 2017, First Nations Australians gathered in Uluru and decided how we would like to be recognised: we asked to be recognised through the creation of a new body that would give voice to our people,” he said.
“In 2023, every Australian will have the opportunity to vote Yes for a more reconciled nation and a better future for us all.”
The ‘no’ case is expected to focus on the voice being a “failed bureaucracy model” and that it will enshrine inequality between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians in the nation’s founding document.
The Liberal-National coalition supports legislating local and regional voices, but not putting a voice in the constitution.
