The Voice to Parliament No campaign has launched a new rallying cry to its supporters, revealing it will now set its sights on the government’s disinformation bill.
Following the open letter from indigenous leaders who broke the week-long vote of silence after the defeat, details of the No campaign’s own message have emerged.
‘Australia has overwhelmingly rejected division. The Yes campaign only managed to convince 39 per cent,” said Advance CEO Matthew Sheahan.
“That’s a resounding defeat in anyone’s books.”
Advance was behind the Fair Australia No campaign, which joined forces with Senator Jacinta Napijinpa Price and Nyunggai Warren Mundine to bring down the Voice.
Advance championed the Fair Australia No campaign, which joined forces with Senator Jacinta Napijinpa Price and Warren Mundine to bring down the Voice.
No wonder they have been in mourning for a week. You and I destroy their divisive agenda.
“Australia gave them a flogging that will hurt for decades, believe me.”
READ MORE: What Yes leaders really mean with open letter criticizing No voters
But Sheahan warned that the Yes camp is “regrouping”.
‘Why do you think they are already talking about new laws to criminalize ‘disinformation’?
A disinformation bill would give the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) stronger powers to deal with “false, misleading or deceptive content”.
‘Australia has overwhelmingly rejected division. The Yes campaign only managed to convince 39 per cent,” said Advance CEO Matthew Sheahan.
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland described these new powers, which would include information gathering and record-keeping capabilities, as a means to “create transparency around digital platforms’ efforts to respond to misinformation and disinformation.” .
The Human Rights Commission and the Australian Law Council are among businesses concerned about the scope of powers the bill would grant.
Mr Sheahan criticized Labour, the Greens and Teal independents for “lining up… to call for new laws that criminalize and police what you say”.
‘They believe the only way to win is by silencing their opponents. But you and I are already ahead of the game.
‘ADVANCE is campaigning right now on this next front. Every time they shout “disinformation, disinformation,” they’re really saying, “you’re too stupid to make your own decisions.”
“They think if you oppose their radical vision for Australia, you’re ‘a dinosaur or an idiot’, as Ray Martin said.
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland described these new powers, which would include information gathering and record-keeping capabilities, as a means to “create transparency around digital platforms’ efforts to respond to misinformation and disinformation.” .
“They simply cannot accept the fact that Australians thought dividing us by race in our national rulebook was a bad idea.”
Sheahan’s message to his supporters came as campaign group Yes, the Uluru Dialogues, shared an open letter that claims to be “the collective ideas and views of a group of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders, community members and organizations who supported Yes”.
“The truth is that the majority of Australians have committed a disgraceful act, knowingly or unknowingly, and there is nothing positive to be taken from it. We needed the truth to be told to the Australian people,” the letter said.
This appears to be a reference to the next stage of the Uluru Declaration from the Heart, which calls for truth-telling through a Makarrata Commission.
The Makarrata Commission, which would combine treaty-making ambitions with truth-telling, was considered the “culmination of the agenda” of the Uluru Declaration, of which a constitutionally enshrined Voice to Parliament was only one part.
The statement (pictured) said Indigenous leaders would continue to push for a Voice, despite the overall defeat of the referendum.
The letter called for schoolchildren to be taught about the struggles of indigenous Australians, saying a lack of knowledge and racism contributed to the referendum defeat.
“That so many Australians believe there is no race or racial division in the current Australian Constitution speaks to the need for better education about Australian history and better civic education,” the statement said.
In a direct challenge to non-Indigenous Australians, the letter said: ‘Australia is our country. We accept that the majority of Australians have rejected recognition in the Australian Constitution.
‘We do not accept for a moment that this country is not ours. Always was. It will always be.
‘It is the legitimacy of non-indigenous occupation in this country that requires recognition, and not the other way around. Our sovereignty has never been ceded.’