You’re the Voice, Try and Understand It

You’re the Voice! Um… NO! Anthony “Vote YES” Albanese, Prime Minister of Australia, has made it his mission to convince you to vote Yes in the upcoming Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum. Tens of millions of dollars has been spent on advertising to try to make you vote Yes (not tax payers’ money, Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney assures us). But the latest addition to the Yes campaign is a song from a 74-year-old British-born, former mullet-wearing pop singer, John Farnham, who has apparently gifted his song “You’re the Voice”, to the Yes campaign. Apparently, Australians are so easily persuaded, the simple inclusion of a song will make us change our vote.

I don’t know about you, but I’m not buying it. I don’t think Australians are so easily manipulated, are they? Well, I’m certainly not. It might be a good song. It might have some catchy lyrics, but it doesn’t change what we’re voting for. Some commentators have pointed out that the first line of the chorus is an apt description of the upcoming Voice, “You’re the voice, try and understand it”, in that, many voters still don’t know what exactly this Voice will entail. For me, what we’re voting on is very clear: The inclusion of a federal advisory body that can only be made up of people from a particular ethnicity. And that just sounds wrong to me. You don’t eliminate racism by excluding 96% of Australians because they don’t happen to have the appropriate ethnicity.

According to the Voice website, “The Voice will be chosen by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people based on the wishes of local communities”, and, “The Voice will be accountable and transparent”. That’s interesting, because the Guardian is reporting this week, “Albanese government accused of ‘blatant hypocrisy’ as more than 2,000 Senate questions go unanswered. So are we just supposed to have faith that the Voice will live up to its transparency promises as well?

Not only has Johnny Farnham been raked in in an attempt to sway your vote, so have many big Australian companies who are also calling on you to vote Yes. Qantas have famously stuck Yes23 badges on their planes publicly affirming their support. For some strange reason, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has since departed, not on a plane, but he did suddenly quit Qantas. According to Aviation Australia, flight crew have been seen celebrating with high fives after learning the fateful news, with hero pilot Captain Richard de Crespigny describing a “collapse of the brand” under Mr Joyce.

Not only are singers and massive companies telling you to vote Yes, so too are Australia’s biggest sporting codes. “More than 20 Australian sporting codes unite in support of Indigenous voice to parliament”. So famous singers want you to vote Yes. The Government want you to vote Yes. Kmart wants you to vote Yes. An entire f***ing airline wants you to vote Yes. All the sporting codes want you to vote Yes. You’d be kind of the odd man out if you voted No. Well…

According to the most recent polling, the Yes vote is collapsing, with the No vote now taking the lead. Apparently, Australians aren’t listening to their corporate masters.

But anyway, none of that matters anymore, because Johnny Farnham is onboard with one very clear message: “Vote YES!!!”. Remember, “You’re the Voice”. Well, depending on your ethnicity, only about 3 or 4% of you will be the Voice. So my response is, and will always be, a resounding NO!

JOHN FARNHAM'S HIT SONG YOU'RE THE VOICE THE OFFICIAL SOUNDTRACK FOR THE 2023 REFERENDUM YES CAMPAIGN
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-03/john-farnhams-youre-the-voice-for-referendum-yes-campaign/102806260

NO PUBLIC MONEY FOR 'YES' OR 'NO' CAMPAIGNS IN INDIGENOUS VOICE TO PARLIAMENT REFERENDUM, BURNEY CONFIRMS
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-29/no-public-money-for-yes-or-no-referendum-campaigns-burney-confir/101712992

ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER VOICE
https://voice.gov.au/

ALBANESE GOVERNMENT ACCUSED OF ‘BLATANT HYPOCRISY’ AS MORE THAN 2,000 SENATE QUESTIONS GO UNANSWERED
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/sep/04/albanese-government-accused-of-blatant-hypocrisy-as-more-than-2000-senate-questions-go-unanswered

HERO A380 PILOT SAW QANTAS CREW ‘HIGH FIVE’ JOYCE EXIT
https://australianaviation.com.au/2023/09/hero-a380-pilot-saw-qantas-crew-high-five-joyce-exit/

MORE THAN 20 AUSTRALIAN SPORTING CODES UNITE IN SUPPORT OF INDIGENOUS VOICE TO PARLIAMENT
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/may/26/australia-sport-codes-unite-in-support-of-indigenous-voice-to-parliament-sports-yes-vote-referendum

VOICE TO PARLIAMENT POLLING RESULTS TRACKER: HOW MANY PEOPLE SUPPORT OR OPPOSE THE REFERENDUM
https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/ng-interactive/2023/sep/04/indigenous-voice-to-parliament-poll-results-polling-latest-opinion-polls-referendum-tracker-newspoll-essential-yougov-news-by-state-australia

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Allégro by Emmit Fenn