Spineless Liberals

The voice to parliament 'vote no' campaign in shambles [3 Minute Read]

Written by Matthew Fischer, co-host of the Backbench Drivers podcast

Recently, the Guardian reported a stunning development in the voice to parliament campaign…

The no campaign in this year’s voice referendum will propose a symbolic constitutional recognition of both Indigenous people and migrants, instead of an Indigenous voice to parliament, Warren Mundine has revealed.

Mundine, a leading organiser of the no campaign, said it will run on a slogan of “recognise a better way”, proposing to insert an acknowledgment in the preamble of the constitution, via another referendum.

As noted in the article, this recognition was rejected in the 2017 Uluru statement from the heart.

Many will rightfully ask, how will constitutional recognition solve even one of the many problems facing the aboriginal community? As The National Observer has previously reported, the crime spike in aboriginal communities is astonishing - and that’s just for starters. Need I mention the astoundingly low employment rates, education standards, rampant addiction or health problems? All these obstacles stand between Aboriginal communities and becoming functioning members of Australian society. The solution? a “symbolic constitutional recognition of both Indigenous people and migrants” apparently. So far Mundine has yet to elucidate just how constitutional recognition will solve the violent crime, mass apostasy of faith, and lack of opportunities for these communities: who would have thought that between Aboriginal Australians and success the only barrier was a lack of recognition in the constitution!

Of course, this is ludicrous. Constitutional recognition will not meaningfully address the problems of Aboriginal Australia - but this is not to say it will have no effect at all. Constitutional recognition for aboriginals and immigrants will disadvantage White Australians.
Ultimately recognition means legitimisation; If Aboriginals and immigrants are recognised in the constitution; ownership and legal protections necessarily follow. This radical redefinition of Australian identity will have drastic implications, for example granting further legitimacy towards movements like “Pay the Rent” (ironic in light of the disproportionate amount of welfare the Aboriginal population already receive). Likewise, recognition of immigrants in the constitution may limit the availability of deportation as a punishment for criminal aliens and halt any potential legislation to restrict immigration in the future. Lastly, this proposal will open the door to further progressive reforms to the constitution. With the current anti-White culture, it is easy to imagine how this may have drastic implications for our future.

The proposal championed by Mundine, who ran for the seat of Gilmore in 2019 on the Liberal ticket, seeks to coalesce all of the opposition groups into his position on the proposed referendum. Mundine’s groups, Recognise a Better Way and the Voice No Committee, have already found support from the ranks of former Coalition members. John Anderson, former deputy prime minister (1999-2005), is a member of the latter.

Some readers may ask, why is the Coalition abandoning its predominantly White and Christian base and advocating for Aboriginals and immigrants, who often do not vote for the LNP. In reality, this is not at all surprising, observant readers will recognise this all-too-familiar pattern in Australian conservative politics.

The Liberal party’s first election win in 1949 metaphorically drove a bulldozer to the front yard of the White Australia Policy, stepped out of the cabin, and handed the Whitlam government the keys with a thumbs up. The demolition of the White Australia Policy affected a fundamental and permanent change in Australian society, the results of which we live in today. This is exemplified by the recent violent street brawl between rival ethnic groups in the middle of Federation Square; quite poetic. This author predicts that the campaign will focus on how White people are ‘immigrants’ to Australia in order to convince them that their interests are being considered. They are not. This proposed constitutional recognition will favour the post-1975 non-White immigrants, another nail in the coffin of White Australia.

All this does not even make mention of the restrictions Howard’s coalition government enacted on Australian gun owners or the Turnbull government’s 2017 promulgation of gay marriage in Australia - possibly one of the greatest betrayals by a conservative government of its voter base.

I hope this article has given insight into why the liberal party’s support for constitutional recognition is not all that surprising. They never have been a conservative party, and at this rate never will be. For the sake of all Australians citizens, and for the sake of its own survival, the Liberal party seriously needs to become a genuine opposition party - because in a choice between the ‘original brand’ Labor party and the Liberal party’s ‘Aldi-brand Labor’ attempt, no one is picking Liberal.