The Indigenous Australians minister, Linda Burney, is concerned about “fairly unsavoury things” opponents to the Indigenous voice have aired during the referendum campaign as the government engages with mental health organisations to support Aboriginal people hurt by the debate.
Burney accused the main no campaign of seeking to mislead voters and the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, of “bullyboy tactics” as she pleaded with the public to carefully consider their ballot.
“Do not let the no campaign get away with using Trump-style politics in Australia. Do not let them divide us,” Burney told the National Press Club on Wednesday.
Her speech came as Diversity Council of Australia research found 59% of First Nations employees surveyed have experienced discrimination, harassment and racism at work – a 9% increase since 2021.
Burney’s major speech said the voice would improve decision-making and efficiency on Indigenous issues. She said previous Indigenous advisory groups had not worked, but that the proposal for the voice would “do better than past bodies”.
Burney said she would ask the voice to focus on Indigenous housing, health, employment and education; but reiterated that specific details about the body – such as whether it would be limited to only advise on those areas – would be decided after further consultation with Indigenous communities.
Burney’s sharpest oratory, however, was targeted at voice opponents in the parliament and the Fair Australia campaign, run by conservative lobby group Advance.
“It is post-truth. Its aim is to polarise, to sow division in our society by making false claims including that providing advice to government would somehow impact the fundamental democratic principle of one vote, one value. A claim designed to mislead,” she said.
“My social media, as you can imagine, attracts trolls who accuse me of things like trying to set up an apartheid state.”
The Indigenous affairs shadow minister and no campaign leader Jacinta Nampijinpa Price described Burney’s speech as “arrogant”.
“The good news is that mainstream Australians are wise to the division the yes campaign is trying to enshrine in our national rulebook,” Price said.
“We will not be standing idly by while Ms Burney launches her elitist attacks from the comfort of the Canberra Press Club.”
The government has been heavily critical of claims from the opposition that the voice would “re-racialise” Australia, or that its input could end Australia Day, Anzac Day, or the federal budget.
Burney said she was not contemplating the referendum failing, but conceded there may be ongoing effects beyond the campaign. Mental health organisations and social media experts have already voiced major concerns over racist abuse of Indigenous Australians online and the lingering effects of the ongoing debate.
Burney said there was “nothing to fear” regarding the voice, but that the government was mindful of other impacts, noting budget funding for Indigenous mental health around the referendum.
“We are very conscious of the issues around mental health and just where this debate could go. We’ve already seen some fairly unsavoury things,” she said.
“We have had long discussions with Equality Australia, who ran the marriage equality campaign, who are extremely skilled and understand what some of the implications are. I have met with all the crisis lines including 13 Yarn, Lifeline and many others.”
The Diversity Council research found Indigenous people were twice as likely to say they were being excluded at work, with 50% saying they were ignored by work colleagues, left out of social gatherings or treated “as if they didn’t exist” compared to 24% of non-Indigenous people.
Half of Indigenous people surveyed also said they often or always experienced people making “incorrect assumptions about their abilities”.
Professor of Indigenous policy at Sydney’s UTS Jumbunna Institute, Nareen Young said Indigenous employees are grappling with stresses on top of their daily workload.
“While the voice seeks to provide further opportunities for First Nations communities to share their experiences within governance systems, organisations and society at large have taken this opportunity to add an increased cultural load on Indigenous peoples, employees, friends and family members,” she said.
The government and Yes23 campaign have welcomed support for the voice from major sporting codes, charities, church groups and leading businesses. This week, Dutton sensationally accused business leaders of lacking “a significant backbone,” using a Sky News interview to question if corporate supporters of the voice were mindful of “what’s in our country’s best interests”.
The opposition leader claimed, without providing specific examples, that he had spoken privately to business leaders who opposed the voice.
Asked about Dutton’s criticisms, Burney again stressed the public support of many leading corporate groups and firms, adding: “I don’t think the business community would be very impressed by the bullyboy tactics of Peter Dutton.”
In his own press conference in South Australia before Burney’s speech, Dutton again criticised “corporate elites” and “activist CEOs”.
“I just think elites like Ms Burney and the CEOs of the big companies yelling at Australians, telling them that they’re racist if they don’t vote for the voice, or telling them that they’re hard-hearted, or suggesting that our international reputation will be tarnished – that’s not the way to win a vote,” he claimed.
