Tasmania is the only state to vote yes in Indigenous Voice to Parliament
Voters continued to turn against an Indigenous voice in Parliament, with overall support falling to new lows and every state except Tasmania poised to vote no.
The most recent Resolve Political Monitor survey, published Monday in Nine Newspapers, showed that 43 percent of voters supported a plan to enshrine Voice in the Constitution, down 20 percentage points from a year ago. a year.
The percentage of Australians in favor of the referendum has fallen for the fifth consecutive month and since the last poll, Victoria has moved to a No majority, leaving Tasmania the only state remaining in the Yes camp.
For Voice to succeed, the Yes campaign needs more than 50 percent of the vote across the country and in four of the six states.
The fall in support for Voice also had a knock-on effect on its biggest funder – the Labor government – with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese seeing his net performance rating fall to minus 7 per cent.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is pictured with his partner Jodie Haydon in Jakarta
Asked about the drop in support, Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said there were still many undecided voters who could be convinced.
“We’re going to ask them to vote Yes because it recognizes 65,000 years of Australian history,” she told Channel Seven’s Sunrise on Monday.
“This idea came from indigenous people, and more than 80 percent of them support it. It is not a commission which has a right of veto over Parliament. That doesn’t stop things from happening.
“It’s a committee tasked with giving advice, it’s really a lot less scary than some members of the No campaign make it out to be.”
But critics of the referendum, including Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce, say the vote lacks transparency.
“It will fundamentally change the way this nation operates and that’s why people are moving away from it,” he told Sunrise.
The news comes as applications for postal voting for The Voice are open, and the legal order for the referendum to be held is expected to be issued on Monday.
Governor-General David Hurley will issue an order requiring the Australian Electoral Commission to hold the poll on October 14, kicking off its processes.
Applications for postal voting will open on Monday once the legal document has been issued and will close a month later, on October 11.
Electoral rolls close seven days after the writs are issued, meaning Australians have a week to ensure they are registered.
Voting in the referendum is compulsory and failure to comply may result in fines.
Hundreds of early voting centers will be available from October 2, with centers opening a day later in the ACT, New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia due to a public holiday .
All states except Tasmania are now set to vote no in the referendum on The Voice. A map of Australia is shown
Australians will be asked to vote on constitutional recognition of Indigenous people and dedicate a new advisory body called The Voice.
Indigenous leader Noel Pearson said the referendum “absolutely” had a chance of winning.
“I just don’t believe that when the hand of friendship and reconciliation is extended by Indigenous people, ultimately their love will be unrequited,” he told ABC’s Insiders on Sunday .
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has pledged to hold a second referendum if the next vote fails and the coalition returns to power at the next federal election.
