Divisions have emerged in the anti-voice camp, after leading no campaigner Warren Mundine said defeating the looming referendum would make treaties between governments and First Nations more likely.
His fellow no campaigner Jacinta Nampijinpa Price declined to comment on Mundine’s supportive stance on Sunday, with the senator’s office referring inquiries as to whether she supported Mundine’s position to campaign vehicle Fair Australia.
Just three days ago, however, Nampijinpa Price declared that “you can’t have treaty with your own citizens”.
Mundine also called for a change to the date of Australia Day, a position that the official no case, in a pamphlet distributed to voters, warned against as a potential “radical” consequence of a yes vote.
On a day that tens of thousands of people marched in cities and towns in favour of a voice to parliament, the federal government said Mundine’s comments showed “the no campaign has no solutions”.
While the “progressive no” camp backed by the former Greens senator Lidia Thorpe has long called for treaty and justice reforms as higher priorities, the main “no” camp has instead sought to stoke fears about “radical” changes that they speculate may stem from the voice.
The official voice no pamphlet tells voters that the proposed amendment to the constitution “opens the door for activists” and asks “what comes next?”
“The Uluru Statement from the Heart says a Voice is a first step, before a treaty and truth telling,” says the no pamphlet, written by a majority of the parliamentarians who voted against the constitution alteration bill.
“Already, many activists are campaigning to abolish Australia Day, change our flag and other institutions and symbols important to Australians.
“If there is a constitutionally enshrined Voice, these calls would grow louder.”
Mundine, who founded the Recognise a Better Way group opposing the voice, cut across that message by reiterating his previously expressed personal support for changing the date of Australia Day from 26 January.
In an interview with the ABC’s Insiders program, Mundine acknowledged that “people on my side don’t agree with me on these two issues and that is treaties and that is changing the date”.
“I say treaties in the plural sense because we have to recognise Aboriginal culture,” he said.
“Aboriginal culture is our First Nations and the first thing we learn about life is that one nation cannot talk about another nation’s country.
“Only those traditional owners of those countries can talk about those countries, and therefore when you talk about a state treaty or a national-type treaty, it doesn’t make sense in our culture.”
Asked whether treaties were more likely if people voted no, Mundine said: “Yeah. Because then, on 15 October, if it is a ‘no’ vote, that’s when the real work starts.”
Mundine and Nampijinpa Price have worked closely together during the campaign against a voice, holding a joint press conference on the day Anthony Albanese announced the date.
Nampijinpa Price told an event hosted by the Australian newspaper on Thursday that she feared the voice’s first priority would be treaty and reparations.
“We know that that is the agenda of many who support the voice and we’re not going to take any other suggestion otherwise. There are treaties in negotiation around the country right now,” she told the event on Thursday.
“It’s one law for all as far as I’m concerned. And this is the problem that treaty poses for the Australian people. And again, you can’t have treaty with your own citizens. There was, as far as I know not a declaration of war for there to be a treaty.”
Fair Australia and the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, were also asked on Sunday whether they supported Mundine’s stance, but did not respond by deadline.
The attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, said, as he joined thousands of voice supporters in Melbourne on Sunday: “We had the no campaign on full display today, with Warren Mundine on Insiders showing that the no campaign has no solutions. The no campaign has no answers.
“The no campaign talks about wanting to get practical improvement. The no campaign should be voting yes if they want practical improvement in the lives of Aboriginal people because that’s what this referendum is about. It’s about getting practical outcomes.”
Australians will vote in a referendum on 14 October on whether to recognise the First Peoples of Australia in the constitution by establishing an advisory body called an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice.
