Australia’s Voice to Parliament referendum looks set to fail as a confused public struggles to tell fact from fiction. Among all of this, indigenous communities are feeling the weight of racism and abuse. The Australian people have been asked one question “Do you approve this proposed alteration?” However, few can hear the question through the noise of everything else.
Originally published by 360info
Originally published by 360info
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00:00 How well do you know Australia's constitution?
00:02 Some people think they know, like this conspiracy theory that claims there are two Australian constitutions.
00:08 But a 2015 study knows that many don't know it at all.
00:11 All it has ever done is set out who has the powers to do different things in Australia.
00:16 But the voice to parliament referendum is about adding 92 more words.
00:20 If the change is approved, it would recognise Australia's First Nations people and establish an advisory body regarding policies that impact their lives.
00:29 Few deny there is a need for greater focus on these issues.
00:33 You know, there's a role to play for the wider society to be engaged with Indigenous communities for a much fairer and just outcome in the future.
00:42 So I think, you know, we our institutions have to be better at reporting on Indigenous issues.
00:47 They've got to be better at engaging with Indigenous communities.
00:50 But the debate around the topic hasn't been as simple as pointing out a problem that needs fixing.
00:56 More than a year out, polls said that over 60 percent of voters were believed to be siding with yes.
01:01 But things have changed.
01:03 I'm very focused on winning this referendum.
01:09 If you don't know, vote no!
01:12 The voice is not a revolution.
01:13 The voice is not the answer.
01:14 We're going to be armed with the truth.
01:17 The original optimism of the yes campaign has all but evaporated.
01:22 It is about the wider Australian society having that desire to work with Indigenous Australians to develop a deeper understanding of those issues that are impacting on the lives of Australia's Indigenous population and a genuine desire to engage.
01:39 Now, the noise around the referendum has made it difficult to separate the true from false as arguments push the limits of the truth.
01:45 But the prime minister right from the start has, you know, I think, tried to rig this thing, not providing the detail, just getting it through on the vibe.
01:52 That claim by opposition leader Peter Dutton was called a new loaf from Green senator Sarah Hansen-Young.
01:58 She said it would undermine faith in Australia's electoral system.
02:02 The Australian Electoral Commission are alarmed that they struggle to have social media posts removed that they say incite violence and spread disinformation.
02:11 With the tactic of inundating communities with alarming news running wild online.
02:16 United Nations will control all land in Australia.
02:21 This fake video has been viewed more than 50,000 times, with some people exposed to this content likely to believe it.
02:28 The impacts of this debate are being felt heavily within the Indigenous community.
02:34 An Indigenous crisis support and suicide prevention service, One Three Yarn, says it is fielding a record number of calls from people experiencing racism and abuse as a result of the voice to parliament debate.
02:46 Well, I think it's raised the specter of racism and about Indigenous people's place in Australian society.
02:53 I think a lot of people are feeling a little bit hurt and wounded at the moment.
02:58 The fact that it's been so politically polarising, I think, is contributing to the sort of the effect on the well-being for many Indigenous change.
03:09 Adding fuel to this fire, traditional media.
03:11 Australia has one of the most concentrated media landscapes in the Western world.
03:16 When it comes to newspapers, just two companies make up around 80 percent of the market.
03:23 According to Victoria Fielding from Adelaide University, the biggest of these companies, News Corp, run by the family of Rupert Murdoch, are campaigning for a no vote.
03:32 Fielding's research on behalf of Australians for a Murdoch Royal Commission claims that 70 percent of News Corp's coverage of the voice has been advocating for the no vote.
03:43 And when you dig into the data, News Corp's commentators push the case in overwhelming numbers.
03:48 Chief among those Sky News Australia's and the Herald Sun's Andrew Bolt.
03:53 The game seems rigged against the no campaigners.
03:56 News reporters for News Corp cover the referendum in a more balanced approach.
04:02 But the sheer amount of commentators and the space they are given is very different.
04:07 The rest of the media industry is under the spotlight, too.
04:11 Queensland University of Technology's Samantha Vilkins writes that the obsession with polling distorts the reality of the debate.
04:18 She says political polling reflects its own ecosystem, where the numbers become the story, making people believe we're more divided than we truly are.
04:27 Because whether the vote is yes or no, Australians will need to find a shared future.
04:33 And the hope for reconciliation continues.
04:36 I'm not surprised at where we are at the moment because I think, you know, some of the changes that we see tend to occur at a glacial pace, quite slow.
04:48 But I am encouraged by the younger sort of group of people in Australia, the 18 to 45 year old age group who understand the issues, you know, have got some compassion and see a sense of justice in the sorts of things we want to do in the future.
05:03 Among all of this, the Australian people have been asked one question.
05:07 Do you approve this proposed alteration to the constitution?
05:10 However, few can hear the question through the noise of everything else.
05:15 There is a lot of official bias in this whole referendum process.
05:20 Now, there's a reluctance on the part of some Australians to include Aboriginal people in the decision making process.
05:26 And that's that's that's a difficult thing to accept.
05:29 [MUSIC]