Assessing the Outcome of The Voice Referendum: Winners and Losers of a Divisive Campaign in Australia

The seven-month campaign to the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum is over – and there’s been clear winners and losers from the bruising and divisive debate.

As predicted by the polls, Australia overwhelmingly voted No – in every single state. Now it’s up to both sides to try and bring a divided nation back together again.

Daily Mail Australia reveals who has gained and who has lost out as the debate comes to and end with a complete rejection of the Voice to Parliament in every state of Australia.

Winners

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price 

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price is the biggest winner from the referendum, having established herself as a straight-talking woman of the people.

Senator Price was pulled from relative obscurity to the forefront of the debate when former Shadow Indigenous Australians spokesperson Julian Leeser resigned to the backbench over his party’s decision not to endorse the Voice.

As his replacement, she immediately set to work campaigning for a No vote, outshining better known-names within her own camp. She completely eviscerated her Labor opponent, Indigenous Affairs Minister Linda Burney, during the campaign. 

Such was Ms Burney’s disdain for the Country Liberal Party senator for the Northern Territory, she refused to debate her. 

The success of the first-term senator in the Voice to Parliament debate has been so overwhelming, she’s even being touted as a future prime minister.  

Lidia Thorpe and the Blak Sovereign Movement

Lidia Thorpe was also a leading proponent of voting against the Voice – albeit for very different reasons to Senator Price.

Senator Thorpe and the Blak Sovereign Movement which she represents as an far-left Independent are ‘progressive No’s’, who argue Australians should vote against the Voice because it didn’t go far enough to improve the rights of First Nations people.

Senator Thorpe advocated for a treaty first – and didn’t want to be tied to a Constitution which wasn’t endorsed by Indigenous people in the first place. 

The Victorian rose to national prominence because of a series of controversies, which ended with her leaving the Greens. 

But taking the side as a leader of the ‘progressive No’ voters probably helped defeat the Voice, as well as leaving her with an even bigger national profile.  

Warren Mundine

A former Labor Party president who quit the party in 2012 before unsuccessfully running for the Liberals in 2019, Nyunggai Warren Mundine has always been a divisive figure. 

However, his emergence as a leading campaigner for the No campaign has reestablished him as a significant figure on the Australian political landscape. 

There were whispers at one stage in the campaign that his success in the fight against the Voice had landed him Liberal pre-selection for a vacant Senate spot, but that never came to fruition.

Mundine has kept quiet about what his next move will be, but his work against the Voice means he’s firmly back in the spotlight. 

NITV 

SBS’ special National Indigenous Television channel became an authority on the Voice throughout the campaign.

With wall-to-wall coverage of the referendum dominating the news, NITV enjoyed increased prominence and awareness among the general public. 

What especially impressed many in the media was the broadcaster didn’t take sides in the debate – meticulously interviewing Aboriginal Australians on all sides of the debate.

Malarndirri McCarthy 

Malarndirri McCarthy, Labor’s Assistant Indigenous Australians Minister, is an unlikely winner of the Yes campaign, after outshining many of her colleagues throughout the debates.

The 53-year-old former journalist was thrown into the Yes campaign when it was all but lost, but still impressed many with her hard-work, straight shooting demeanor and unflappable appearance before the cameras.

There was even a slight uptick in polling for the Yes camp in those last days. 

Because of her late entry into the campaign, Senator McCarthy managed to avoid the worst of the judgement and attacks which were levelled against some of her colleagues, making it more likely that she will be remembered for her wins rather than any perceived failures.  

Conservative commentator Peta Credlin  

Another media winner was Peta Credlin. The Sky News host and News Ltd columnist is a former political apparatchik who rose to prominence as Tony Abbott’s chief of staff. 

Credlin broke one of the most controversial stories of the campaign – that the actual Uluru Statement from the Heart was up to 26 pages, not just one. 

It was a defining moment in the campaign and led to Anthony Albanese’ infamous interview with 3AW’s host Neil Mitchell in which he angrily declared her hadn’t read the entire document.   

Dean Parkin 

Up until the result was known, Yes23 campaign leader Dean Parkin was one of the few loud and proud Yes campaigners likely walk away from the referendum a winner. 

He sullied that slightly on Saturday night with a sulky speech that belied his immense contribution.

Parkin commanded a team of 37,000 volunteers across the nation and ensured the Voice campaign was reaching as many Australians as it possibly could.

He attracted no negative attention, and did not criticise No voters during his many interviews on the topic. He also willingly appear in media others considered too hostile.

Losers

Linda Burney

Linda Burney struggled to make her mark throughout the campaign, despite being the politician in charge of selling the Voice to the general public in her role as Indigenous Australians Minister.

In stark contrast to her deputy, Senator McCarthy, Ms Burney copped intense backlash across the nation for her performance.

Anthony Albanese

Anthony Albanese hinged his legacy on the Voice. He went to the 2022 federal election with the referendum promise, spoke about it in his first speech as the PM and campaigned tirelessly this year.

The PM’s popularity has taken a dip in the polls and he’s burned through a fair bit of political capital, however the outcome of the referendum is not expected to impact him too significantly in the long term.

He has been warned, however, to pivot ‘quickly’ into matters the public considers to be of significance, such as the cost of living and the housing crisis. 

Pro-Voice Indigenous leaders

Indigenous leaders who publicly backed the Yes vote openly expressed how difficult a No win would be for them. 

Noel Pearson said he would ‘fall silent’ if the nation voted against the proposal which he helped to create.

And Professor Marcia Langton vowed to boycott future Welcome to Country requests if the Voice were to fail, telling The Australian: ‘I imagine that most Australians who are non-Indigenous, if we lose the ­referendum, will not be able to look me in the eye.

‘How are they going to ever ask an Indigenous person, a Traditional Owner, for a Welcome to Country? How are they ever going to be able to ask me to come and speak at their conference? 

‘If they have the temerity to do it, of course the answer is going to be no.’

Professor Langton later copped immense criticism after she accused the No campaign of being based on ‘base racism’ or ‘sheer stupidity’ and accused ‘hard No’ voters of ‘spewing racism’.

Referendum working and engagement groups

The handpicked referendum working group who worked closely with government to formulate the referendum question – many of whom also campaigned around Australia – will also be impacted by the No win.

The likes of Thomas Mayo, Teela Reid, Megan Davis and Pat Turner were members of the groups. 

Mayo and Reid sparked intense backlash throughout the campaign for unearthed comments they made about their visions for Australia post-Voice. 

Daily Mail Australia unearthed a series of tweets revealing Mr Mayo hoped the Voice would lead to reparations and ‘rent to be paid’.

Mayo did nothing to help his cause by a unleashing on the No campaign after the result was known. The Labor trade unionist unleashed on conservative politicans, accusing them of being ‘dishonest’ and having ‘lied’ to Australians. 

‘I’m sure that history will reflect poorly on Peter Dutton, Pauline Hanson, all of those that have opposed this, and so, you know, I don’t know what’s next, but it’s just devastating.’

And Reid, a lawyer, Wiradjuri woman and public speaker, also once described the proposal to change the constitution as a ‘journey with all Australians to demolish the systems that continue to oppress us’.

In 2019, Ms Reid said: ‘Aboriginal people built the nation and now it’s time you pay rent.’ 

The Uluru Dialogue and signatories to the Uluru Statement from the Heart

Similarly, the signatories to the Uluru Statement from the Heart and members of the Uluru Dialogue will be devastated by the result.

They spent months formulating the Uluru Statement to present to government, and this was the closest they had been so far in seeing the requests – described as ‘modest’ by the PM – come to fruition. 

Outspoken celebrities

Celebrities who backed in the Voice and criticised No voters in the process, like Ray Martin, will struggle to win back fans who were polarised during the debate.

Even stars who were linked to the Voice, such as John Farnham through the use of his iconic song You’re The Voice, have upset a large chunk of their fanbase.