Category Archives: Indigenous voice to parliament

Coalition’s second referendum plan a ‘mirage’, Noel Pearson says

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Indigenous leader dismisses Peter Dutton’s proposal and urges Australians to back coming vote as a chance to settle ‘unfinished business’

Cape York leader Noel Pearson believes the Coalition would never hold another referendum on Indigenous constitutional recognition if next month’s vote on the voice fails, saying plan is a “mirage” and pointing to internal opposition confusion.

Pearson has urged Australians to back the current referendum as a chance to settle “unfinished business”, expressing confidence the vote would succeed despite slipping support in opinion polls.

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Jacinta Nampijinpa Price declines to back Peter Dutton’s plan for second referendum

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Opposition leader has called for recognition referendum if yes vote fails, but shadow Indigenous Australians minister says ‘further discussion’ needed

Peter Dutton’s own Indigenous affairs spokesperson has declined to back his plan for a second referendum if the October vote fails, throwing the opposition leader’s alternative to the voice into disarray.

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, the shadow minister for Indigenous Australians and leader of the no campaign, declined numerous opportunities to support Dutton’s plan for another referendum on symbolic constitutional recognition, saying there would need to be “further discussions” before she would back the plan.

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Labor demands investigation into Liberal party’s ‘misleading’ postal vote strategy for the voice

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Liberals brush off calls for AEC to investigate website that offers non-existent postal vote registrations

Labor has called for an investigation into the Liberal party’s “misleading” postal vote strategy for the voice referendum.

The Liberals have been accused of “dirty tactics” for sending out anti-voice pamphlets that include a QR code for postal vote registrations. That link takes voters to a party website to gather their personal information, despite the fact postal vote registrations are not yet open.

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Question time chaos – as it happened

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Tasmanian hospitals experiencing significant demand, public asked to reconsider attending

Tasmanians are being urged to stay away from the state’s two main hospitals unless it’s an emergency as they face “significant demand”.

The hospitals are closely managing elective surgery activity to maintain access for emergency demand. This includes working with private hospitals to access contracted bed capacity and elective surgery.”

I think the Qantas board has to seriously consider some of the decisions that they have been making. I mean, not for nothing, you’re in front of the competition watchdog for what is alleged to be quite egregious behaviour.

You have also sought to, as I said, keep on your balance sheet half a billion dollars of your customers’ money rather than giving it back in the middle of a cost of living crisis. (The flight credits)

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Liberals accused of ‘dirty tactics’ over Indigenous voice pamphlet leading voters to site that harvests information

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Party pointing voters to same website labelled ‘potentially misleading’ by AEC during 2022 election

The Liberal party has been accused of “dirty tactics” by offering nonexistent postal vote registration for the referendum, directing would-be voters to a party website to harvest their personal information.

A “vote no” pamphlet delivered to mail boxes includes a QR code that leads to the same website the party used in last year’s election as part of a move the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) labelled “potentially misleading”.

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Australia politics live: RBA interest rates decision today; question time under way

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Follow today’s live news updates

The corporate regulator is suing Westpac after it allegedly failed to appropriately respond to hundreds of financial hardship requests from bank customers.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Asic) said in a statement on Tuesday it had started civil proceedings in the federal court seeking financial penalties to be imposed on the major bank.

All of these customers told Westpac they were experiencing financial hardship.

Many of these customers also told Westpac about their difficult circumstances and vulnerabilities, including their inability to work, the impacts of serious medical conditions or their carer responsibilities.

This error meant we didn’t provide some of our customers with the help they needed. For this, we are deeply sorry.

The broader picture here is the we’re seeing big corporations at the moment making record profits off the back of everyday people, these big corporations line up to public handouts when the going gets tough and then when they get back into a more healthy situation, they just pocket the profits and they pass the costs on to everyday people and we think it’s time to say enough is enough and it’s time for these big corporations [to be] made to act in the public interest and that’s government’s job.

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Littleproud says ‘there’ll be no victory lap’ if voice fails – as it happened

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Nationals leader backs Peter Dutton’s call to hold a referendum on Indigenous recognition if the voice to parliament vote fails in October. This blog is now closed

Reforms ensure basic standards around pay and working conditions: Burke

Burke has also flagged reforms to ensure gig workers have some basic minimum standards around pay and conditions. Burke says the government reforms are not designed to “break the technology”.

There is no doubt that when people are ultimately receiving really low wages then making ends meet is tougher, and that puts extra pressure on you to take risks.

Riders have spoken to me about it and they say quite specifically that part of the desperation is you are just not earning enough to make ends meet.

We’re talking about the crime being for intentional wage theft, that’s where someone knows the rules. They know exactly what they’re doing. It is the cases where somebody knows that someone is meant to be paid more and they don’t care because they think they can get away with it, and they know that up until now the worse they will have to do is just pay the money back at a later point in time. So wage theft has nothing to do with complexity. It is about theft.

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‘Trumpian era’ of disinformation makes voice yes campaign job more difficult, Megan Davis says

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Architect of the Uluru statement criticises some media outlets for highlighting misinformation being shared on social media platforms

Key yes campaigner and architect of the Uluru statement from the heart, Prof Megan Davis, has accused the no campaign of relying on Trumpian disinformation, conceding it has made the job of persuading Australians more difficult.

During an event to launch a new television ad featuring John Farnham’s song, You’re the Voice, Davis also criticised some media outlets for highlighting disinformation being shared on social media platforms, particularly Facebook.

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Indigenous leaders dismiss Peter Dutton’s vow to hold recognition referendum if voice vote fails

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Opposition leader says constitutional recognition is ‘the right thing to do’ but Indigenous leader accuses him of ‘not listening’

Indigenous leaders have dismissed opposition leader Peter Dutton’s promise to hold another referendum on constitutional recognition if the voice vote fails and the Coalition win the next election.

Dutton told Sky News on Sunday that, if elected, his party would send Australians back to the ballot box to vote on constitutional recognition, instead of a voice to parliament, saying it is “the right thing to do” and that he supported “regional voices”.

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University of Sydney one of 15 higher education institutions not to have a position on the voice

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Indigenous faculty members say the leadership of Australia’s oldest university could have been ‘much braver’

The University of Sydney is one of 15 Australian higher education institutions that have neglected to take a position on the Indigenous voice to parliament, as pressure mounts on the sector to step up its support ahead of the referendum.

Of Australia’s 41 universities, 25 have backed the recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the constitution, and 15 have withheld from a view. The University of Newcastle will reveal its position next month.

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Atagi recommends additional Covid vaccine booster for people over 75 – as it happened

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Health minister’s office confirms government has accepted expert body’s advice. This blog is now closed

AMA says Coalition should ‘get out of the way’ of 60-day dispensing changes

The Australian Medical Association has welcomed the start of 60-day dispensing and urged the Coalition against reversing the decision. The opposition is expected to attempt to overturn the decision with a disallowance motion when parliament resumes next week.

Patients have waited for five years to get the hip pocket savings this policy delivers due to hardline opposition from pharmacy owners. It’s time for patients to get a fair go and for the Coalition to get out of the way of this long overdue health reform and to stop defending pharmacy owner profits.

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Makarrata commission has so far spent barely half the $900,000 allocated by Labor, documents show

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Exclusive: First look at the truth-telling and treaty-making body’s work comes amid heavy Coalition scrutiny

The federal Makarrata commission for truth-telling and treaty-making has so far spent just a small amount of the funds it was allocated by the government, newly released documents show, with the body focusing on research and talking with state governments about treaty processes already under way.

It is the first look at the work of the Makarrata commission, a body requested by the Uluru statement from the heart and funded by the federal Labor government in its first budget last year, to oversee processes around treaty and truth-telling.

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Australia news live: ‘maintain the love’, Noel Pearson says, rebutting John Howard’s no campaign message

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Prominent yes campaigner and Cape York leader ‘surprised’ by former PM’s message to ‘maintain the rage’. Follow the latest updates live

Jane Hume to vote no despite anticipated home state yes

Liberal senator Jane Hume appeared on the Today show earlier this morning, saying she would be voting no in the upcoming referendum on an Indigenous voice to parliament, however she conceded her home state of Victoria will likely vote yes.

My home state is probably where there’ll be a Yes. But the yes vote is very well resourced from corporates and individuals and that’ll be ramping up. I don’t think the No campaign can take anything for granted in these last few weeks.

That describes both the yes and the no case. They can make up their own mind.

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Australia news live: ‘no downside, only upside’, PM says, confirming Indigenous voice to parliament referendum date as 14 October

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The formal announcement of a voice referendum date triggers a campaign from both the yes and no camps, before Australians eventually head to the polls. Follow today’s live news updates

Report points to Snowy 2.0 project costs blowing out to $12bn

Nine’s Sydney Morning Herald and the Age are this morning reporting that the cost of Snowy Hydro’s 2.0 giant pumped hydro project has doubled in six months to $12bn.

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‘Two future Australias’: PM to address community rally in Adelaide ahead of voice poll announcement

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South Australia and Tasmania expected to decide future of voice to parliament as Anthony Albanese confirms date at Adelaide rally

The Indigenous voice referendum date will be announced at a large community rally in Adelaide’s outer suburbs on Wednesday, kickstarting a campaign to change Australia’s constitution for the first time in nearly half a century.

Albanese will join South Australia’s premier, Peter Malinauskas, in Elizabeth in Adelaide’s north, to confirm the referendum date. If held on 14 October, as widely anticipated, it would kickstart a 45-day campaign.

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Facebook suspends RMIT FactLab after voice no campaigners criticise factchecker

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Meta spokesperson says suspension was decided after voice opponents raised criticism and apparent lapse in accreditation

Facebook has suspended a key factchecker which monitors and debunks online claims after repeated criticisms from Indigenous voice no campaign leaders and some conservative media outlets about the factchecker’s work.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has temporarily suspended RMIT FactLab as one of the partner organisations for its factchecking program, which can slap warning or information labels on dubious content.

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Protesters interrupt ANU event – as it happened

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Victoria bans Nazi salute, symbols and gestures in public

The Victorian government will today introduce legislation to parliament to ban the Nazi salute.

Victorians have zero tolerance for the glorification of hateful ideology. We’re making sure people who use these symbols and gestures to harass, intimidate and incite hate are held accountable for their cowardly behaviour. While we wish making these laws wasn’t necessary, we will always tackle antisemitism, hatred and racism head-on – because all Victorians deserve to feel accepted, safe and included.

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Julie Bishop says no result in Indigenous voice referendum would send ‘very negative message’ to world

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Former Liberal foreign affairs minister says at yes campaign event ‘Australia’s international reputation can be affected by a no vote’

Former Liberal foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop has claimed a no result in the voice referendum would send a “very negative message” to the world about the openness and empathy of Australian society.

Speaking at a yes campaign event in Perth, Bishop strongly backed the voice in her role as Australian National University chancellor.

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Bridget Archer says it is ‘irresponsible’ to cast doubt on integrity of voice referendum after questions over crosses

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Shadow minister Jane Hume calls it an ‘inconsistency’ that a cross on a ballot paper will not count as ‘no’

The Liberal MP Bridget Archer has warned it is “irresponsible to cast doubt on the integrity” of the Australian Electoral Commission, after senior members of the Coalition and some no campaign groups raised concerns over whether crosses count as valid votes in the voice referendum.

On Sunday, the shadow minister for finance and special minister of state, Jane Hume, called it an “inconsistency” that a tick would count as yes but a cross would not count as a no.

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Michael Long begins long walk for Indigenous voice to parliament: ‘The hatred’s got to stop’

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AFL legend wants Australians to join recreation of his Long Walk of 2004 which ended with a meeting with then PM John Howard

The AFL legend Michael Long has declared it high time for Australia to embrace Aboriginal people as he embarked on a walk to Canberra in support of an Indigenous voice to parliament.

Recreating his Long Walk in 2004, the son of two stolen generations members will trek hundreds of kilometres in the lead-up to the referendum.

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