THE SQUIZ

PM Anthony Albanese is in Adelaide to announce the date for a referendum on enshrining an Indigenous Voice to Parliament in our Constitution. The idea is the body would represent First Nations people and offer advice to the government on policies and laws that impact their lives. Yesterday, Albanese said the Voice question was “a reasonable ask” and a “very simple proposition”, while Coalition leader Peter Dutton said we’re being asked to “make the biggest change to Australia’s constitution in decades … without any of the details”. As we get set for that to play out, we thought we’d tell you what Squizers are thinking about the Voice referendum… 

THIS IS A BIT DIFFERENT/UNUSUAL… 

Isn’t it… You might remember that a couple of weeks ago, we asked you to do a survey – and 2,265 Squiz newsletter readers/podcast listeners answered the call… You can check out the report here, but 3 things to call out:

• More than half of you (55%) feel informed/very well informed about the Voice proposal and the upcoming referendum – particularly if you’re in the Northern Territory, where 86% said they’re all over it. 
• A smidge under half of you (49%) reckon there will be a ‘No’ vote. Then it’s pretty even-stevens for a ‘Yes’ result (23%) and those who are unsure how it will go down (27%). Almost 2% of our respondents are of Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander descent – 65% of those Squizers are expecting a ‘No’ result. 
• And it’s being kicked around that if there is a ‘No’ vote, Australia would be considered a racist country – and a third (36%) of Squizers agree. The same number (36%) said ‘it’s not that simple’, and the rest (28%) said it wouldn’t mean Australia is racist. 

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? 

That Squizers are more clear about things than Aussies more broadly… We’d like to think that’s because we’ve helped you along this long and winding road towards a vote – but we can’t take all the credit because you’ve self-selected as someone who is engaged in the news and wants to understand the issues of our time. That’s why we’re mates… Underscoring that – 82% of Squizers have decided how they will vote (note: we didn’t ask about voting intention because that’s your business…) – which is a fair bit more than what the polls say about the general population. And it’s why the ‘Yes’ campaign says it can still win the day despite the polls saying support for the proposal is below 50%. All of that’s ahead of us, and we’ll be here for you… 

Want to dive into the details of our research on the Voice referendum? Yeah you do – and it’s all here.