Author, writer and advocate for the Indigenous Voice to Parliament Thomas Mayo has told the Blue Mountains Writers’ Festival that “the media failed” during the campaigns for and against the Referendum Australians voted on in October 2023, which resulted in it not passing.
Disinformation and misinformation are now regular features of the conversations we hear about the media, especially in light of the recent election in the US. But closer to home, Aussies will remember that similar themes marked the period surrounding The Voice.
However, Mayo said that he believes there is a “cult of forgetfulness” in Australia, and that this has become more evident after the Voice’s failure. It was easy to forget the results and move on, but Mayo felt this was not the right approach.
The Kaurareg Aboriginal and Kalkalgal, Erubamle Torres Strait Islander author unveiled his personal journey of coming to terms with the failure of Australia’s Referendum in October 2023. Charmaine Ledden-Lewis, a Bundjalung woman and illustrator, moderated his panel “Always Was, Always Will Be” at this year’s Blue Mountains Writers Festival.
The Media’s Role In Perpetuating Confusion
Mayo said that misinformation that crowded social media algorithms during the Voice. It was a time of confusion for many Australians, with some swayed by numbers suggesting Indigenous Australians overwhelmingly supported a No vote. Some believed they would be forced to pay reparations or the Voice would increase taxes.
Based on polls conducted by Ipsos in January and YouGov in March 2023, around 80 per cent and 83 per cent respectively of First Nations people said they were voting ‘Yes’. Some media outlets noted the limitations of poll numbers, chiefly that it is notoriously difficult to obtain a representative sample of Indigenous people.
Several publications warned Aussies of the misinformation that surfaced during The Voice and studies conducted post-referendum found worryingly high numbers of incorrect theories dominating social media algorithms during the period.
“Those claiming that First Nations communities don’t want this are politicians, and media outlets are latching onto that,” said Mayo. “It should have been pretty obvious that the majority of Indigenous people wanted this”.
“Some people came up to me and said, ‘I’m so sorry, I thought that you didn’t want the vote’. All that misinformation they were reading fuelled these ideas. It wasn’t racism at the hearts of these mindsets. It was confusion,” said Ledden-Lewis.
The Effects of Misinformation
Mayo experienced his fair share of discomfort during the Voice, receiving racist messages from people who accused him of being “A wannabe Indigenous person”.
“Polling conducted 12 months before the referendum showed majority public support for the proposed constitutional change. But ultimately, the polls flipped and 60 per cent of Australians voted no,” said Mayo.
In fact, so much as 42 per cent of those who said they would have voted ‘yes’ in January 2023 ended up voting ‘no’ in October 2023.
“There is no doubt that the Yes campaign could have done things better. But I think the result would have been different if Peter Dutton hadn’t decided to declare his lack of support for the Voice and David Littleproud and the Nationals announcing they were going to campaign for no. After that happened, we saw the support for the Voice start to dip, as the conspiracy theories gained traction across media platforms,” added Mayo.
In terms of how to address the issue of misinformation, Mayo emphasised that hope was the way forward.
“It’s so difficult to understand the truth from lies these days. The important thing is to continue having conversations. A lot of people probably improved those conversations during the referendum. Keep learning and keep talking to people about it,” he said.
“I’ve said before that Donald Trump floods the zone with shit. We’ve got to flood the zone with truth and hope,” he added.
As we look ahead to countless more elections and policy changes, we can do well to learn from the confusion that fuelled previous ones and try our best to flesh out truth from fiction.
Looking Ahead
While Mayo was upset by the results of the Voice, he came back to the idea of hope in his advice to the audience.
“I want us to start in a place where we understand what we’ve achieved. When our Elders first sought a right to vote, they were told no. When we first demanded equal wages, the answer was no, and when we first marched for land rights and Native title, they said no. In 2023, when we called for a Voice in the Constitution, we received that familiar response. Why do we have hope? Because every time we were told no, we took action with our Indigenous allies and we kept going. We are here to stay, and no does not mean no progress. We have come a long way compared to 50 years ago, but we still have a long way to go,” he said.
Ledden-Lewis said she had “a surprise,” and brought out her guitar to sing Kev Carmody’s song “From Little Things Big Things Grow”. Mayo filmed the wholesome moment and shared it on his Instagram, showing members of the audience singing along to the song.
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