The No campaign reveals its next target after taking down the Voice – as leader boasts: ‘Australia handed them a flogging that will sting for decades’

The Voice to Parliament No campaign has issued a new rallying cry to its supporters, revealing it will now set its sights on the government’s disinformation bill.

Following the Indigenous leaders’ open letter breaking a week-long vow of silence following the defeat, details have emerged about the No campaign’s own message.

“Australia has overwhelmingly rejected division. The Yes campaign only managed to convince 39 percent,” said Advance executive director Matthew Sheahan.

“This is a resounding defeat for anyone.

Advance was behind the Fair Australia No campaign, which teamed up with Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Nyunggai Warren Mundine to bring down The Voice.

“No wonder they were in mourning for a week. You and I destroyed their divisive agenda.

“Australia has given them a flogging that will sting for decades, believe me.”

READ MORE: What Yes leaders really mean with their open letter criticizing No voters

But Mr Sheahan warned that the Yes camp was “regrouping”.

“Why do you think they’re already talking about new laws to make ‘disinformation’ a crime?

A proposed misinformation bill would give the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) greater powers to deal with “false, misleading or misleading content”.

“Australia has overwhelmingly rejected division. The Yes campaign only managed to convince 39 percent,” said Advance executive director Matthew Sheahan.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland described these new powers, which would include information-gathering and record-keeping capabilities, as a way to “create transparency around efforts by digital platforms to respond to the misinformation and disinformation.

The Human Rights Commission and the Australian Law Council are among the firms concerned about the extent of powers the bill would grant.

Mr Sheahan called on Labour, the Greens and independent Teals to “line up… to demand new laws that will criminalize and police what you say”.

“They think the only way to win is to silence their opponents. But you and I are already one step ahead.

“ADVANCE is currently campaigning on this next front. Every time they shout “disinformation, disinformation,” what they are really saying is “you are too stupid to make up your mind.”

“They think if you oppose their radical vision for Australia you’re ‘a dinosaur or an idiot’, as Ray Martin says.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland described these new powers, which would include information-gathering and record-keeping capabilities, as a way to “create transparency around efforts by digital platforms to respond to the misinformation and disinformation.

“They simply cannot accept the fact that Australians thought dividing us by race in our national settlement was a bad idea.”

Mr Sheahan’s message to supporters came as the Yes campaign group, the Uluru Dialogues, shared an open letter claiming 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 the majority of Australians have committed a shameful act, knowingly or unknowingly, and there is nothing positive to come from it. We needed the truth to be told to the Australian people,” the letter read.

This appears to be a reference to the next stage of the Uluru Heart Declaration – which calls for truth-telling through a Makarrata Commission.

The Makarrata Commission, which would combine treaty-making ambitions with truth-telling, was seen as the “high point of the agenda” of the Uluru Declaration, whose Voice to Parliament was enshrined in the Constitution , was only the first part.

The statement (pictured) says indigenous leaders will continue to push for a vote, despite the referendum’s overall defeat.

The letter called for schoolchildren to be made aware of the struggles of Aboriginal Australians, saying a lack of knowledge and racism contributed to the referendum defeat.

“The fact that so many Australians believe that there is no race or racial division in the current Australian Constitution speaks to the need for better education about Australian history and better civics” , indicates the press release.

In a direct challenge to non-Indigenous Australians, the letter said: “Australia is our country. We recognize that the majority of Australians have rejected recognition in the Australian Constitution.

“We do not accept for a single moment that this country is not ours. It always has been. Always will be.

“It is the legitimacy of non-Indigenous occupation in this country that must be recognized, not the other way around. Our sovereignty has never been ceded.