Sky News Australia will launch a dedicated new channel, Sky News The Voice Debate, and premiere a new feature documentary, The Voice: Australia Decides.
As the nation leads up to the historic referendum later this year, Sky News The Voice Debate channel will canvas all angles of The Voice to Parliament debate with comprehensive, up-to-the-minute news updates.
It will feature press conferences live and in full, in-depth government and community announcements and townhalls, alongside news, analysis, commentary and documentary programming.
Paul Whittaker, CEO at Sky News Australia said: “As the nation is asked to decide on a change to the constitution – one of the most consequential responsibilities for Australians in decades – Sky News Australia is committed to ensuring voters are comprehensively informed. The new channel will deliver a dedicated news service, providing Australians with up-to-date information and rolling coverage that shares every perspective of the debate.”
Sky News The Voice Debate will also be available to stream online at SkyNews.com.au and across News Corp masthead websites for anyone looking to access the latest news updates.
The creation of this dedicated channel demonstrates the network’s commitment to bring Australians around-the-clock coverage during major news moments, as seen in previous years with the launches of the Sky News COVID-19channel and Sky News Election channel.
Sky News Australia will produce a one-hour special documentary around the potential of a proposed law to alter the constitution by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.
The Voice: Australia Decides, hosted by Sky News Northern Australia Correspondent Matt Cunningham, will premiere on Tuesday 25 July at 8.00pm. The documentary will be broadcast on Sky News as well as the new dedicated channel, Sky News The Voice Debate. The discussion takes Cunningham across the country, speaking with key Indigenous leaders, Traditional Owners of the land, experts and politicians including prime minister Anthony Albanese and opposition leader Peter Dutton.
Cunningham said: “Through the documentary we discover there is no shortage of passion and opinion when it comes to The Voice, and at the same time, no shortage of misunderstanding around this issue. Advocates argue that The Voice is crucial to give Indigenous Australians a say in the laws that affect them, while opponents believe it could create a separate form of government and undermine the current political system. It’s become a heated debate not only in Canberra but also among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.”
