New poll shows support for the Voice to Parliament continues to decline – as Anthony Albanese again rejects calls to abandon the referendum
- New survey on how people will vote on The Voice
- Support for the vote fell from 51 percent to 46 percent
- Past supporters and undecided voters said they would vote no
A new poll has shown that support for the vote is waning as indecisive voters turn to the no vote and previous supporters switch sides.
New data from JWS Research found favor for the vote fell from 51 percent in February to 46 percent.
The news follows Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s decision Thursday to reject the opposition’s suggestion that the vote be taken in legislation rather than let it fail in a referendum later this year.
The Yes campaign, led by Mr Albanese, claims the vote will help unite Australia by giving Indigenous Australians a say in policies that affect their communities.
However, the No campaign, led by Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, says the Voice’s true powers have not been made clear and it will only bring about “symbolic” change.
A new survey found former Voice supporters and undecided voters want to vote no in October’s referendum (pictured, ‘No’ leader Jacinta Nampijinpa Price)
The JWS survey found that the growth in opposition to the vote is greater than the number of people who stopped their support, the Daily telegram reported Saturday.
This means that the no vote not only wins people who previously thought they would vote yes, but also people who previously had doubts.
The data also showed that men were more likely to be against the Voice than women, with 50 percent of men planning to vote no, compared to 37 percent of women.
Many more men were also determined which way they would vote, with only eight percent undecided compared to 14 percent of women.
Poll analyst John Scales said the results could mean the Yes party would regret taking the Voice to a referendum.
“The Voice campaign is starting to look like the eight-week 2016 Turnbull election — something voters neither wanted nor asked for,” he said.
One key state that saw the biggest vote change since February was NSW.
Earlier this year, 52 percent of voters said they would vote yes in the upcoming referendum, but that number fell to 41 percent, while the no vote rose from 32 percent to 47 percent.
The no vote in Queensland rose from 38 per cent in February to 46 per cent, while the yes vote fell from 48 per cent to 45 per cent.
The only state where the yes vote saw a jump in support was Western Australia, where 11 percent more voters said they would support the vote, bringing the state total to 61 percent.
Albanese responded to the news at a press conference on Saturday.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (above) responded to the survey results on Saturday, saying: ‘The Voice is about giving Indigenous Australians a voice that can be listened to’
“There’s a different poll every day,” he told reporters from Marrickville, Sydney.
“In every poll, including today’s, the yes vote is higher than the no vote.”
He continued, “We have an eight-year life expectancy in this country [between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians].
“We have poorer health outcomes for Indigenous Australians. A young Indigenous man is more likely to go to prison than to go to university.
‘What this [the Voice] is about doing things with Indigenous Australians… By listening to get better outcomes, to get better policies, that’s what good policymaking is about.
‘The Voice is about giving Indigenous Australians a voice that can be listened to, which can then feed into better policies to make a difference, to close the gap.
“We have to do better.”
