A guide to navigating the Yes and No cases

Gabrielle Appleby, Sean Brennan & Paul Kildea

30.08.23

Throughout August and September, the Australian Electoral Commission will send to every registered voter, by post, the ‘Official Yes and No Cases’ on the upcoming Voice referendum, likely held in mid-October. The cases are also available on the AEC’s website.

Members of the Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law and the Indigenous Law Centre Professor Gabrielle Appleby, and Associate Professors Sean Brennan and Paul Kildea have developed a new resource to assist the Australian public navigate that material. Their report, Expert Analysis of the ‘Official Yes/No Cases’ published by the Australian Electoral Commission: Constitution Alteration (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice) 2023  explains the authorship of the Yes and No cases and the role of the Australian Electoral Commission in distributing them to Australian households. It then provides a line-by-line analysis of the substantive claims that are contained in the Yes and No cases. This analysis is informed by their combined expertise and experience in constitutional law, Indigenous legal issues, referendum law, political science and government administration.

This analysis reveals that the Yes pamphlet’s claims are accurate – that is, they are based on facts and the historical record, as well as research in relation to policy development in Indigenous affairs. Where more general claims are made, they are supported by research.

In contrast, the No pamphlet’s claims are largely misleading, that is, the claims are out of context, with relevant information omitted, or imply something that is incorrect. Further, many of the claims are inaccurate, that is, they are not based on the facts and the historical record. Other general claims in the No campaign are unsupported by research in the relevant areas.

In summary, there are factual, historically informed claims that are grounded in the best available research supporting the Yes Case. This is the type of information that voters need to read and consider before making up their mind.

But in our view, the “no” case has failed voters. It does not cater to the millions of Australians who want to hear fair-minded arguments in relation to the constitutional amendment before they make up their minds.

Read the full report here. 

__

Gabrielle Appleby, Sean Brennan & Paul Kildea are members of the Indigenous Law Centre (ILC).