According to a recent poll, the referendum on an Indigenous Voice is unlikely to receive the support of millions of Australians.
According to the most recent Resolve Political Monitor poll conducted for the Sydney Morning Herald, 10% of voters say they are unlikely to cast a ballot, while 9% are doubtful.
This indicates that if Australians decide not to participate in the referendum, the final vote total might be reduced by about 1.7 million.
The survey did reveal that a majority of Americans support an Indigenous Voice that is incorporated in the constitution.
When voters were given the choice between a “Yes” or “No” question without a “undecided” option, about 58% of people were in favor and just 42% were opposed.
According to Jim Reed, director of Resolve, “On the surface, this majority support in a majority of states should give the Yes campaign some consolation.”
The eventual conclusion later this year is probably going to be a close call because support is clearly on the decline from its highs of 80% a year ago. The new wording on the ballot and the turnout rates aren’t doing much to support the Yes vote.
Resolve Strategic ran the poll from Wednesday through Sunday when Opposition Leader Peter Dutton was in the Northern Territory to argue against the constitutional amendment.
Instead, Mr. Dutton is advocating for a local and regional voice model that is governed by law.
However, the Liberal leader came under fire for allegedly exploiting crime in Alice Springs as a “political football” in his last-week campaign against the Voice after alleging that abusers were reclaiming Indigenous children.
Before making similar remarks again on Thursday, he stated that it was “accepted as normal practice” in the outback town without mentioning any specific instances.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese once more rejected Mr. Dutton’s accusations of child abuse and reiterated that any such incidents should be reported to the police.
Then, when speaking on Monday, Mr. Albanese was questioned about whether his administration ought to look into the allegations made by the leader of the opposition.
“No. Police should look into them, he said to 7.30.
“If there are instances of child abuse, that’s a crime, and a politician or a bureaucrat shouldn’t look into it.”
Mr. Albanese added that he had “no idea” where Mr. Dutton got his information and that no information had been brought to his attention regarding the return of children to their abusers.
He continued, “Peter Dutton makes all kinds of statements.
The difficulty in this situation is that severe matters like child abuse, which Peter Dutton, myself, and I would hope every member of parliament abhors uniformly, shouldn’t be turned into a political issue.
“I’m not sure what the underlying principle is. However, he hasn’t brought up any specific concerns with me on any assertion or unique circumstance.
