As the referendum approaches, the key dynamic in the debate is clear. The conservative right views a defeat for the Voice as a chance to strike a devastating blow against support for Indigenous rights among the Australian population. In the process, it is reviving every racist myth in the play book: Indigenous people shouldn’t get “special privileges”; opposing anti-Aboriginal racism is actually “dividing the nation”; and the colonisation of Australia had only a “positive impact”, in the words of Jacinta Price.
Right-wingers are using the Voice referendum to push their vile racism towards Indigenous people, and the media are giving ample space to every racist and their dog.
One of the goals of my new book Indigenous Liberation & Socialism is to highlight the often ignored story of how, throughout the history of this country, the struggles of Indigenous people have overlapped with the socialist movement. Much of this rich history has been either dismissed or significantly downplayed by traditional academic research.
The New South Wales Labor government will be moving a series of amendments to the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 at the beginning of August. These amendments will make it “unlawful to, by a public act, incite hatred towards, serious contempt for, or severe ridicule of, a person or group of persons, because of their religious belief, affiliation or activity”.
“A blow like this was dealt to Russia in 1917”, President Vladimir Putin said in an unscheduled televised speech as Wagner mercenaries marched in mutiny towards Moscow in late June.
Support for the proposed Indigenous Voice to parliament has fallen below 50 percent, according to a survey by Resolve Strategic released on 12 June. The polling recorded a decline in support for the Voice for the last three months, dropping from 58 to 49 percent. Opposition has grown from 42 to 51 percent. Three states—Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia—had No majorities.