Outspoken Yes campaigner Noel Pearson has launched a harsh criticism of radio host Neil Mitchell ahead of the Indigenous Voice referendum in Parliament.
Pearson has been promoting the proposal he helped formulate, traveling around the country educating Australians about what a Yes vote would mean for their community.
Speaking to 3AW’s Neil Mitchell on Tuesday, Pearson painted a bleak picture for Australia’s future should the No vote triumph in the October 14 referendum.
But it was his extraordinary spray at the radio host that left the most lasting impression, revealing untold insight into his passionate plea to the nation.
‘You know your business, I know my business partner.
‘My business is not in a radio cube. My business is to work in the rocky fields of disadvantage, poverty, misery, alcoholism and starving children, where people go to prison.’
Outspoken Yes campaigner Noel Pearson has issued a scathing attack on radio host Neil Mitchell ahead of the Indigenous Voice referendum in Parliament.
Pearson said Mitchell was “rude about (the referendum) until the end” and said his line of questioning throughout the interview suggested he opposed the Voice.
‘Do you have a solution to give us more?’ she asked Mitchell.
But Mitchell argued that his questions were simply “designed to find out what (the Voice) achieves in real terms”, at a time when the No camp is thriving because it has successfully argued that there is a lack of detail about the proposal.
A new Guardian Essential poll has, for the first time in months, indicated an increase in yes votes of around two per cent, but it only contradicts a downward trend that has been evident in all polls for months.
Some 49 per cent of respondents said they intended to vote No (two points less than the previous fortnight), while 42 per cent said they would vote Yes.
About eight percent remain undecided.
The Yes vote nationally sits conservatively at around 40 per cent and these polls, including Redbridge and Newspoll, indicate that most states are on track to vote No.
Voice to Parliament needs to secure a double majority (the majority of voters in the majority of states) to succeed on October 14.
Pearson has been promoting the proposal he helped formulate, traveling around the country educating ordinary Australians about what a Yes vote would mean for their community.
Pearson said a No vote would be crushing for all the people who had worked so hard to extend an olive branch to non-Indigenous Australia.
Pearson said a No vote would be crushing for all the people who had worked so hard to extend an olive branch to non-Indigenous Australia.
‘I’ve been working on this for 30 years, working on these problems from scratch, and I tell you there is no plan B.
‘It won’t be a disaster for all of us. We will all lose, including those campaigning for No.’
Pearson said Australia is on the “precipice” and a No vote would become “an absolute abyss” for the nation.
‘There will be heartbreak. “There will be absolute desperation.”
Pearson said the reforms, which have been ’15 years in the making’, are the only way forward for many First Nations Australians, and without a Yes vote, many would not be able to see a way forward.
But he is still confident Australians will be able to vote Yes on referendum day.
“We have two weeks,” he said. “Two weeks is a long time in politics, Neil.”
Speaking to 3AW’s Neil Mitchell on Tuesday, Pearson painted a bleak picture of Australia’s future should the No vote succeed during the October 14 referendum.
Yes23’s internal surveys have indicated that there is a solid portion of the community that has not yet participated in the campaign at all.
These are the voters that Yes campaigners are trying to target, in the hope that when referendum day comes, most of them will join their side.
Gav Harris, a grandfather from western Sydney who campaigns 20 hours a week on top of his full-time job, said it’s also the vibe he’s getting on the ground.
‘People will say they’re already voting Yes, or they’ll smile, honk their car horns. I would say there is a lot more support than negative comments,” she stated.
But another common reaction is simply confusion or lack of interest.
“The undecided vote is still enormous,” he said.
“People are still not engaged.”
Pearson also sensationally ruled himself out of the race for the advisory body if a Voice to Parliament is formed.
He said he would be willing to take on an “advisory” role for “the entire leadership level of the next generation behind me,” advising and guiding them through the challenges they will face.
‘We’ve had plans in place for 20 years. We are ready to go. We’ve been able to implement probably a third of them independently of the government, but the other two-thirds. “We really need the government to work with us collaboratively,” he stated.
Yes23’s internal surveys have indicated that there is a solid portion of the community that has not yet participated in the campaign at all.
But when asked if he would run for office if that were an option, Pearson balked.
“I personally don’t,” he said. ‘Absolutely not.’
Pearson said the creation of a Voice to Parliament would put more pressure on Indigenous communities, forcing them to “take responsibility” if the crisis does not improve.
‘We have to take responsibility. Then you can blame us. Because if you give us a Voice, then you can blame us.
‘But you can’t blame us if you don’t give us the responsibility to contribute to the solution… The message will be that you give us the responsibility to take charge of our problems, to take responsibility for the results. “So we’re going to have to wear ourselves out, whether we’re making progress or not.”