Time short for voice ‘yes’ campaign to find right pitch

Tess Ikonomou and Paul Osborne | July 17, 2023

Campaigners managing the ‘yes’ case for an Indigenous voice to parliament are doing a “disappointing” job, with a leading marketing expert warning time for a turnaround is short. 

Newspoll shows national support for the referendum has dropped to 41 per cent, with 38 per cent of female voters and 45 per cent of men backing 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.

Australian National University marketing lecturer Andrew Hughes described the ‘yes’ campaign as disappointing. 

“They’ve started off from an emotional perspective, rather than starting off logical and progressing to emotional,” he told AAP. 

Dr Hughes said there was time to get the campaign back on track but it needed to be done quickly.

“I do wonder if it is too late, I suspect they will kick off hard soon,” he said.

Dr Hughes said the public wanted to see the detail, with people more distrustful of governments after the COVID-19 pandemic. 

He said the campaign strategy was the wrong type to run in this context.

The marketing expert suggested the ‘yes’ camp could provide information about potential models for the voice, which will be put to a referendum between October and December.

The government insists the composition, powers, functions and procedures of the voice will not be laid out by the parliament until after the referendum.

The Australian Electoral Commission will on Tuesday publish the official ‘yes’ and ‘no’ cases on its website, before booklets are posted to voters.

Opposition Indigenous spokeswoman Jacinta Nampijinpa Price confirmed the ‘no’ campaign had submitted its case to the electoral commission for the pamphlet on Friday.

Senator Price said the essay produced a simple and clear message.

“My colleagues and I believe Australians deserve details, consultation and transparency – instead they’ve been given a rushed process and a proposal that is risky, full of unknowns and enshrines division in the constitution,” she said on Monday.

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.

The Liberal-National coalition supports legislating local and regional voices, but not putting a voice in the constitution.

Tasmanian independent senator Jacqui Lambie said the drop in support for the voice 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.