A key architect of the Uluru Statement from the Heart has criticised Anthony Albanese for not dropping the Voice when it became clear the referendum would fail.
Ahead of the first anniversary of the of the Voice referendum on October 14, constitutional law expert Professor Megan Davis has claimed she was open to the idea of dropping it altogether it after the scale of its unpopularity became clear in polls.
‘If the prime minister and others had really definitive information that it was going to lose, we were concerned with why that would proceed, given that it was apparent we didn’t have enough time to prosecute the case,’ Prof Davis told the ABC’s Insiders.
The Voice to parliament, which would have altered the Australian constitution by creating a body to consult on laws affecting Indigenous people, was overwhelming defeated.
Nationwide, 60 per cent of people voted no – and it was rejected by all states and territories apart from the ACT.
Prof Davis went on to say that it would be a broken election promise if the Albanese government didn’t deliver a Makarrata Commission.
The Makarrata Commission’s role would be to undertake a processes of agreement-making and truth-telling which would ultimately lead to a treaty.
When it became clear the Voice was unlikely to pass, Prof Davis claimed her mind turned to pondering whether it was worth proceeding with it or not.
Megan Davis (left) said she was open to the idea of dropping the Voice after it unpopular on ABC’s Insiders podcast on Friday
Prof Davis said she did not have enough time to ‘educate the Australian people’ on ‘this decade-long advocacy, multi-partisan process for constitutional recognition’.
She added that had her relationship been stronger with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese she might have been able to ask him to drop the vote.
‘I would’ve been up for that discussion. Referendums, they can lapse — and I think there could’ve been better coordinated conversations about that,’ she said.
‘I know there were leaders deeply concerned about continuing on if … they had such definite information that it was going to fail.’
Ms Davis still believes in the Voice’s values but claims that disinformation played a major role in its downfall and has called for legislation to be brought in to counter ‘Trumpian’ lies.
In a speaking event at the University of NSW Prof Davis also took aim at the ABC over its ‘false equivalence’ in airing interviews with Yes and No campaigners.
‘The ABC constantly emailed all of the Aboriginal staff at UNSW saying “we’re desperately looking for a No activist from La Perouse, can someone find us one please, because we’ve got this debate coming up”,’ she said, according to The Australian.
Prof Davis added that had her relationship been stronger with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese she might have been able to ask him to drop the vote (the pair are pictured together)
‘We have to do all of this ABC interaction on the basis of the most ridiculous arguments that were not even plausible legal arguments, but just because they wanted this balance.
‘By the time you got to the last six weeks, commercial television wouldn’t even run Yes (campaigners). Unless No ran someone, unless Advance (put up an interviewee) they would not run someone from the Yes campaign.’
Prof Davis also voiced her concern that Mr Albanese would backtrack on his promise to implement the Makarrata Commission.
In the Uluru Statement, signees called for parliament to implement the Voice before launching a Makarrata Commission to ensure its message was delivered.
Ms Davis went on to say that it would be a broken election promise if the Albanese government didn’t deliver a Makarrata Commission
At this year’s Garma festival Mr Albanese said Makarrata means ‘coming together after a struggle’ but critics have called out his definition of the word.
Prof Davis said she doesn’t know exactly where the government stands on the commission but said it was ‘part of their election platform’.
‘So, you know, that would be a broken election promise,’ she said.
‘Presumably they’ve said they don’t think they can prosecute that with the current opposition, and that they’ll leave it to the next term.’
Director of the Yes campaign Dean Parkin said there was a clear difference between a ‘commitment to Makarrata vs commitment to a Makarrata Commission’.
She conceded that she was unaware of where the government currently stands on the commission but noted that it remained a priority within the Labor Party policy.
Ms Parkin noted that the commission had gone through Labor’s policy conference and was part of its election platform.
If the party were to not institute a Makarrata Commission it would be equal to a broken election promise, Ms Parkin said.
She said it was ‘actually a super dangerous thing’ for Labor to only enshrine the promise in any kind of symbolic recognition.
Ms Parkin also criticised Senator Fatima Payman’s party launch this week which co-opted the usage of ‘voice’ into its namesake.
Senator Payman launched the Australia’s Voice party which Ms Parkin called ‘extraordinarily insensitive’ especially near the anniversary of the Voice’s defeat.
The senator however, dismissed the controversy and said she ‘doesn’t see why’ her party name became an issue since ‘the word “voice” isn’t trademarked’.