THE SQUIZ
It’s official: PM Anthony Albanese yesterday announced that Australia’s referendum on whether or not to amend the Constitution to establish an Indigenous Voice to Parliament will be held on Saturday, 14 October. That’s just over 6 weeks away, just in case you’re counting…

GIMME THE DETAILS…
Here’s the exact wording of the Yes/No question you’ll see on the voting paper when it comes time to lodge your response. What we don’t have is an outline from the Albanese Government on the specifics of how the Voice will work – but we do have the principles from the First Nations Referendum Working Group. Albanese says the details are something politicians will decide if Aussies vote ‘Yes’. But before we get to that, 2 things must happen with this referendum. There has to be a national majority of voters – more than 50% of all Aussies – voting ‘Yes’. And a majority of states – so at least 4 of the 6 states – have to have a majority of their residents supporting it. Voters in the ACT and the Northern Territory don’t count on that second front – their vote goes towards the national total. It’s called a double majority…

GIVE ME THE NOTABLE QUOTES
Albanese wants the country to vote ‘Yes’, and yesterday, he described the referendum as “a once-in-a-generation chance to bring our country together”. He’s encouraging Aussies not to “close the door on an idea that came from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people themselves”. But Coalition leader Peter Dutton says the Voice is not the way forward. This week, he said, “if the government gets it wrong – as many people believe they will – you can’t undo the Constitution”. And outside of Canberra, plenty are speaking up. Prominent Indigenous campaigner/AFL executive Tanya Hosch says Indigenous Aussies want to have a say in changing “life-altering policies that have made hardships seem insurmountable”. But leading Indigenous ‘No’ campaigner Warren Mundine says government bodies shouldn’t be trusted to improve the lives of Indigenous Aussies. With the ‘No’ campaign ahead in the polls, it’s on…

The countdown to the Voice to Parliament referendum is on, so our latest Squiz Shortcut gets you across the key arguments of the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ cases and what could happen next.