Sunrise host Nat Barr has fired off a tough message to the Anthony Albanese government over the proposed Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
During a heated Hot Topics clash with Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek and Shadow Veteran Affairs minister Barnaby Joyce, Nat said “something’s very wrong” with Labor’s campaign strategy given that current polling suggests more Australians are planning to vote no.
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The Channel 7 host said the government’s campaign was “failing so badly” given latest Newspoll figures showed that less than 50 per cent of Australians in each state were planning to cast a yes vote.
Numbers show the no vote is at 56 per cent, while the yes vote sits at 43 per cent nationally.
During the Sunrise segment, Joyce argued that Australians didn’t want to vote until they’d seen the legislation.
“That’s what people are saying they want to see it before they vote on it,” Nat said.
“The Newspoll could be wrong but in a state like Victoria it’s tied, the voting is tied, in a Labor state like Victoria so there’s something going wrong, isn’t there?”
When confronted about the polling results, Plibersek slammed the Opposition’s “scare campaign” and she said was “absolutely determined” to raise support for the yes vote.
“This is about two really simple things, it’s about changing our constitution to acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been here a long time and it’s also about setting up a committee that would give advice to the parliament,” she said.
“We know we’ve got gaps in life expectancy, health outcomes and education.
“What the no campaign are saying is that we should just keep doing what we’re doing, it should just be more of the same and of course, I don’t agree with that.”
Nat then challenged Plibersek over whether the prime minister would offer compensation — as mentioned in the Uluru Statement from the Heart — as part of the changes.
“Is that the case? Because when you create a void it is filled by information, that’s what the opposition is doing in this case. They’re saying ‘’we don’t have the information’, and they’re the ones filling it and they’re the ones winning,” she asked Plibersek.
“Will there be a financial settlement as part of a percentage of GDP, that’s actually talked about isn’t it? And a treaty.”
When Plibersek avoided the question, Nat didn’t let up, arguing that there were flaws in the Labor government’s campaign.
“People are saying they want to see it before they vote on it,” she said.
“And in a state like Victoria which is Labor it’s tied, in a Labor state like Victoria, so there’s something going wrong isn’t there.”
When Nat asked Joyce why the yes campaign was “failing so badly”, he claimed that it was a “matter of race”.
“It differentiates Australia on race which I think is an anathema in 2023,” he said.
“No one has described to us, they say it’s going to make certain issues like health and education better, but they haven’t described exactly how it’s going to do that.
“Why can’t we do that now? Why do we need it to go to the constitution. It’s overreach.”