Voice to parliament referendum fails in defeat that Indigenous advocates will see as a blow to progress towards reconciliation

Australians have resoundingly rejected a proposal to recognise Aboriginal people in its constitution and establish a body to advise parliament on Indigenous issues.

Saturday’s voice to parliament referendum failed, with the defeat clear shortly after polls closed.

  • WeltEnglish
    1010·
    1 year ago

    That’s basically why the Voice to Parliament failed. It wasn’t clear what that would mean, and our utter garbage media fanned all the flames they could - raising the fear in people’s minds that we’d be ‘giving away’ some part of our democratic process. It’s not what would have happened, but it’s a not unfounded fear that in this age of doublespeak and militantly progressive movements, ‘recognition’ of Indigenous Australians could be manipulated into something we didn’t agree to. The result - keep the status quo.

    • LemmysMum@lemmy.worldEnglish
      118·
      1 year ago

      The result - keep the status quo.

      I feel like the result was different from my perspective.

      The result - stop planless virtue signalling and prevent the government sweeping the real issue under the rug with a token gesture.

      • WeltEnglish
        22·
        1 year ago

        I probably didn’t articulate it well but “planless virtue signalling” is exactly what I meant - I suppose when it’s clearly planless (if well-intentioned) it’s easy for reactionaries to reframe what it’s really about, since the populace is ignorant but generally tired of being told how to think and why things ‘must’ change.