A clear majority of the electorate wants more detail about the Indigenous Voice to parliament after months of political argument about the principle at stake, with 63 per cent of voters saying they would like more information than is currently available.
Voters in marginal electorates show a stronger desire to know more about the reform – with 69 per cent wanting more information – in an exclusive survey that finds the same view has a majority whether voters back Labor, the Greens or the Coalition.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the annual Garma festival in East Arnhem Land in July.Credit:Getty Images
The findings heighten the debate about the amount of detail that can be offered before Australians decide on reform at a referendum later this year, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese warning against “misinformation” and saying it would be up to parliament to decide crucial details after the vote.
Advocates for the change will gather in Adelaide on Thursday to launch the Yes campaign after revealing a new logo and message aimed at unifying their alliance when Opposition Leader Peter Dutton questions the proposal and some of his Liberal and Nationals supporters reject it outright.
Activist group GetUp on Wednesday called for more effort to win support for the Voice, saying in a statement: “What we are hearing is that too many First Nations people have little understanding of what the referendum is trying to deliver. There are incredible barriers to information.”
The new survey, conducted by Resolve Strategic, shows majority support for the Voice when people are asked about the wording Albanese aired last year as the possible referendum question, but it also shows support has fallen from last year.
The new logo for the Yes campaign.
In the first question about their support, respondents were asked about the exact wording of a possible change to the constitution issued by Albanese at the Garma festival in the Northern Territory last July.
Albanese said the amendment would say: “The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice may make representations to parliament and the executive government on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.”
The next sentence in the amendment would be: “The parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws with respect to the composition, functions, powers and procedures of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.”
The survey shows 46 per cent of voters favour this wording, while 26 per cent are against and 21 per cent are undecided. Support is down from 53 per cent on the same question asked in August and September.
In a second question, voters were asked to choose “yes” or “no” on the same wording without an option to be undecided, showing that 58 per cent are in favour and 42 per cent is against.
The results confirm the slip in support for the Voice when debate over the reform has intensified, particularly after Dutton called for more detail during weeks of debate in January. The support fell to 58 per cent in February compared with 60 per cent in December and January and 64 per cent last August and September.
The comparison is complicated by the way the Resolve Political Monitor has sometimes combined the data over two months. Month by month, support for the Voice on the Yes or No question has fallen from 63 per cent in August and 64 per cent in September to 62 per cent in December, 58 per cent in January and 58 per cent in February.
The latest Resolve Political Monitor surveyed 1604 eligible voters from Wednesday to Sunday, producing results with a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points.
The results show the responses over a single polling “track” in February, in contrast to earlier Resolve Political Monitor findings on the Voice that combined results for two months in order to produce a bigger sample size, reduce the margin of error and allow a breakdown of the results in each big state.
Asked about the debate over detail, 63 per cent of voters said they would like more information than was currently available. This result included 56 per cent of Labor voters, 73 per cent of Coalition voters and 58 per cent of Greens voters.
However, 25 per cent said they were happy to vote on the principle and the current information.
The question was: “There has recently been some debate about how much detail about the Voice should be released before the referendum vote. Some say that people should know what they are voting on, even if this could be changed in future years, so that they can make an accurate judgment. Others have said that there is too much detail and too many options to communicate, that this would be decided by parliament anyway, and instead we should just vote on the principle of having a Voice. As someone who may vote in the referendum, would you prefer more detail is released before you vote or are you happy to vote on the principle and let parliament decide on the detail afterwards?“
“It’s too early to tell if this marks a turning point or simply a hiatus, but it confirms the gradual drop in support we’ve tracked since last year,” said Resolve Strategic director Jim Reed.
“The onus is on the Yes and No campaigns to explain why they deserve people’s vote. That particularly applies to the Yes case because they are asking for the change.”
A key finding in the Resolve Political Monitor is that many voters expect the Voice to be about practical benefits. On this question, 42 per cent said it was about practical outcomes, 24 per cent said it was more about symbolic recognition and 34 per cent were undecided.
Albanese has sometimes answered questions about detail by referring to the report on the Voice issued by University of Canberra chancellor Tom Calma and University of Melbourne professor Marcia Langton, but the survey found 68 per cent had not heard of this document.
Only 32 per cent had heard of the report and this included 7 per cent who had read a summary and 1 per cent who said they had read the report in full.
“People are already on board for recognition, but the Yes campaign needs to convert a public prejudice to want to help fellow Australians into practical support for the Voice,” said Reed.
Given those results, Reed said Albanese had adopted an effective approach in recent weeks to build that support.
“Voters are asking for more information about the Voice but reject long-form documents,” said Reed.
“The prime minister is now the prominent figure in the debate, and he is using a simple mantra of recognition and consultation to attempt to frame the choice.”
Albanese said on Wednesday the functions and structure of the Voice would be determined by parliament after the referendum, if Australians approve.
“That’s the whole point here. It’s subservient to the parliament,” he said.
“And people can choose to try to spread misinformation or pretend that they don’t know about issues which are so clear even though they all know that it won’t have a right of veto, it won’t be a funding body, it won’t run programs.
“It’s not going to sit around the cabinet table. It is just a request for consultation.”
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