Outspoken Yes campaigner Noel Pearson has issued a scathing takedown of radio host Neil Mitchell ahead of the referendum for the Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
Pearson has been promoting the proposal which he helped to formulate, travelling around the nation educating Australians about what a Yes vote would mean for his community.
Speaking to 3AW’s Neil Mitchell on Tuesday, Pearson painted a bleak picture of Australia’s future should a No vote triumph in the October 14 referendum.
But it was his extraordinary spray at the radio host which left the most lasting impression, revealing an untold insight into his impassioned plea to the nation.
‘You know your business, I know my business mate.
‘My business is not sitting in a radio cube. My business is working in the stony fields of disadvantage and poverty and misery and alcoholism and hungry children, where people are going to jail.’
Outspoken Yes campaigner Noel Pearson has issued a scathing takedown of radio host Neil Mitchell ahead of the referendum for the Indigenous Voice to Parliament
Pearson said Mitchell came across as ‘churlish about [the referendum] right to the bitter end’ and said his line of questioning through the interview suggested he was opposed to the Voice.
‘Do you have a solution for giving us more?’ he asked Mitchell.
But Mitchell argued his questions were simply ‘designed to find out what (the Voice) achieves in real terms’ – at a time when the No camp is thriving because it has successfully argued that there is a lack of detail about the proposal.
A new Guardian Essential Poll has, for the first time in months, indicated an uptick in Yes votes of about two per cent, but it solely bucks a downward trend which has been evident across all polls for months.
Some 49 per cent of respondents said they intend to vote No – down two points from last fortnight – while 42 per cent say they will vote Yes.
About eight per cent remain undecided.
The Yes vote nationally sits conservatively at about 40 per cent and these polls, including Redbridge and Newspoll, indicate most states are on track to vote No.
The Voice to Parliament needs to secure a double majority – the majority of voters in the majority of states – to be successful on October 14.
Pearson has been promoting the proposal which he helped to formulate, travelling around the nation educating everyday Australians about what a Yes vote would mean for his community
Pearson said a No vote would be crushing to all the people who had worked so hard to extend an olive branch to non-Indigenous Australia
Pearson said a No vote would be crushing to all the people who had worked so hard to extend an olive branch to non-Indigenous Australia.
‘I have been working at this for 30 years working on these problems from the ground up, and I’m telling you that there is no plan B.
‘No will be a disaster for all of us. We will all lose, including the No campaigners.’
Pearson said Australia is on a ‘precipice ‘ and a No vote would become ‘an absolute abyss’ for the nation.
‘There will be heartbreak. There will be absolute despair.’
Pearson said the reforms, which are ’15 years in the making’ are the only pathway forward for many First Nations Australians, and that without a Yes vote, many would not be able to see a way to achieve progress.
But he is still certain Australians can deliver a Yes vote come referendum day.
‘We’ve got two weeks,’ he said. ‘Two weeks is a long time in politics, Neil.’
Speaking to 3AW’s Neil Mitchell on Tuesday, Pearson painted a bleak picture of Australia’s future should a No vote triumph during the October 14 referendum
Internal Yes23 polling has indicated there is a solid portion of the community that are yet to engage with the campaign at all.
These are the voters Yes campaigners are trying to target, hopeful that come referendum day most of them will fall into their camp.
Gav Harris, a grandfather from western Sydney who is campaigning 20 hours a week on top of his fulltime job, said it’s also the vibe he is getting on the ground.
‘People will say they’re already voting Yes, or they’ll smile, they’ll beep their horns from their cars. I’d say there’s a lot more support than negative feedback,’ he said.
But another common reaction is simply confusion or a lack of interest.
‘The undecided vote is still huge,’ he said.
‘People are still disengaged.’
Pearson also sensationally ruled himself out of contention for the advisory body if a Voice to Parliament is formed.
He said he’d be keen to take on an ‘advising’ role for the ‘whole layer of leadership in the next generation behind me’, mentoring and guiding them through the challenges they’ll face.
‘We’ve had plans in place for 20 years. We’re ready to go. We’ve been able to implement probably a third of them, regardless of government, but the other two-thirds. We really need the government to work with us in partnership,’ he said.
Internal Yes23 polling has indicated there is a solid portion of the community that are yet to engage with the campaign at all
But when pressed as to whether he would stand for an election process if that was an option, Pearson baulked.
‘Not myself personally,’ he said. ‘Absolutely not.’
Pearson said the creation of a Voice to Parliament would put more pressure on Indigenous communities, forcing them to ‘take responsibility’ if the crisis doesn’t improve.
‘We have to take responsibility. Then you can blame us. Because if you give us a Voice, then you can blame us.
‘But you can’t blame us if you don’t give us the responsibility to contribute to the solution… The message is going to be you give us responsibility to take charge of our problems, to take responsibility for the outcomes. Then we’re going to have to wear whether we’re making progress or not.’