The rise and fall of the voice in the polls On election night in May 2022, the new Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, committed his government to implement, in full, the Indigenous leaders’ agenda. [...] Furthermore, the aged have had decades of exposure to the nationalist commitments that prevailed from the 1950s to the 1980s. [...] 12 On the same day, The Age highlighted Independent Senator and anti-voice campaigner, Lidia Thorpe’s opinion that Anthony Albanese should ditch the referendum because it is emboldening racists.13 In our view the main explanation for the fall-off in the Yes vote is that the voice is seen by many voters (especially those who are non-graduates) as a challenge to their nationalist values. [...] The progressive elite has reacted to the slip in the voice vote by pressing the moral intensity of their cause, with the implication that a No vote is shameful, even racist. [...] We are not saying that the opposition to voice is a prelude to the political resurgence of the right.
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- 15
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- Australia
