Can I humbly suggest that if inQueensland columnist Madonna King wants to avoid coming across as a publicist for the Liberal and National parties, she should stop writing shit that makes her look like that’s exactly who and what she is.
It’s difficult to argue that her recent article – on the surface a hand-wringing plea to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to step up his arguments in favour of The Voice – was nothing more than a full-throated endorsement of the major argument being run by Peter Dutton and the Opposition: that Australians don’t know enough about how the Voice will work and if that’s the case and if they don’t know, they need to vote No!
Here’s the major section of King’s article that I believe deserved a personally written thank-you note from Dutton.
Dutton could not have said it better. And Madonna King should know it’s utter bullshit.
The Voice was proposed in the Uluru Statement from the Heart six years ago. The 250-member First Nations National Constitutional Convention met after massive nationwide consultations and called for the establishment of a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution and a Makarrata Commission to supervise a process of agreement-making and truth-telling about our history.
That The Voice would not have a veto power or any program-delivery function was set in stone back then. The elected members of the Voice would advise parliament and the executive on issues affecting First Nations people.
Then Aboriginal Affairs Minister Ken Wyatt presented all those details at least twice to the Morrison government.
It is only since Dutton and the Liberal and National parties decided to oppose The Voice that the basic argument of “if you don’t know, vote No!” was invented for a campaign that has no other real purpose than to inflict political damage on Albanese. They couldn’t give a flying fuck about how Australia is going to look in international eyes if The Voice goes down.
Madonna King should be ashamed for giving their vacuous, fact-free and racist No case oxygen.
Her article is biased from the get-go, including this opening salvo: We’re hearing lots about the Voice to Parliament referendum – most of it from the negative side – but not much from its author.
Another thank-you note from Dutton is due here as King bolsters his argument that the referendum is an Albanese/Canberra/elitist/racist con trick that must be destroyed.
I repeat: it was the Uluru Statement from the Heart that called for the referendum to cement the Voice and recognition of our First Nations history in this country in the Constitution. An emotional Albanese on election night did nothing more than promise to implement their wishes.
Now, it could be argued that Albanese and the Yes campaigners might have erred to date by not offering at least some specifics on how The Voice would take shape; how many, how elected, from where, what’s their term in office, are they paid?, etc. Whatever information the government puts up would never be enough for Dutton but at least it would have blunted some of his negativity.
But let’s not fool ourselves that King is calling for that sort of basic information. She is not remotely interested in the makeup of The Voice.
Here’s the kicker to the section highlighted above.
Principally – and understandably – they want to know how any big national policy will unfold, and how it might impact on them and their families.
THE IMPACT ON THEIR FAMILIES! Read between King’s lines and the idea that The Voice might just make the lives of disadvantaged First Nation peoples a little better is not really King’s concern – or indeed the message she’s trying to impart.
Does anyone seriously think Madonna King, given the overall tone of her piece, has any desire whatsoever of promoting the one impact The Voice might have on Australians generally: that after many decades of poorly spent taxpayers’ money that largely failed to close the gap, that money might be better spent from now on?
It’s all about dog-whistling to the racists among us. Will The Voice give First Nations people a right to make we poor whities pay rent! Will we be forced to listen to a Welcome to Country each time we step out our front gates? Why should less than 4 per cent of the Australian population be offered something not being offered to other Aussies! Isn’t that so, so unfair! #whitelivesmatertoo!
King is also exceptionally mischievous in sheeting home most of the blame for the Yes campaign’s apparently faltering in the polls to Albanese. She wrote: If a vote for the Voice to Parliament fails, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has to accept a big chunk of the blame.
A big chunk? Really? Albanese does have a day job to do as well.
Perhaps it’s some form of residual loyalty to the organisation that paid her salary for so long that King neglects to mention the shameful, politics-driven, role the vast majority of the mainstream media, led by News Corpse and Nine radio shockjocks, is playing in a bid to destroy the Voice to give Dutton some chance at the next federal election.
InQueensland promotes itself as being an independent online news source for Queenslanders. Perhaps its owners should therefore look for some other politics columnist not as susceptible to the blatant promotion of LNP propaganda.
There must surely be good writers out there far more inclined to strip bare the risible racist rubbish that the federal Opposition is spreading over The Voice. That is the real news of the ongoing referendum debate.
Does InQueensland have Tony Koch’s number?
Don Gordon-Brown
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