In the oppressed world, ‘sham elections’ are held to reinforce loyalty to the ruling party. Despite the illusion of choice, voting against the incumbent powers comes with profound risks, including job loss or social isolation. These ‘elections’, then, merely serve as symbolic rituals orchestrated by leaders with little interest in the will of their people.

Perhaps Anthony Albanese has spent too much time daydreaming of the oppressed world. The alternative is that Labor, ruling with barely 30 per cent of national support, has very little interest in winning public sympathy. Voter support is merely a means to power. Why bother when nearby nations have proven you can just rule by intimidation?

The proposed referendum on the Indigenous Voice to Parliament bears no resemblance to the national conversation it was promised to be. It’s become an order of decrees masked as dialogue – a political sermon disguised as a debate. Any criticism or scrutiny of Labor’s haphazard plan has been drowned out by his alliance with banks, universities, and sporting bodies insisting on a ‘Yes’ vote.

Despite my political inexperience, I remain assured that referendums should not be decided by corporations or employers prescribing a ‘correct’ way to vote. Institutional influence is as old as politics itself, but governments aligning with corporations to discourage voter rebellion is blatant authoritarianism. It’s a scenario that fits perfectly into Australia’s fragile democracy where political expression or medical consent are already locked behind ideological paywalls.

Many of these institutions remain at the mercy of state-run regulators or generous public funding. Some were even exempt from the devastating economic restrictions placed on small businesses during the Covid pandemic. Their public support for government diktats smells unmistakeably like a quid-pro-quo.

With Labor strong-arming the private sector, masses of Australians face the prospect of being marginalised from their workplaces, communities, or sports groups based on political alignment. Even First Nations advocates like Jacinta Yangapi Nampijinpa Price or Warren Nyunggai Mundine have been smeared for siding with the ‘No’ campaign. Ironically, the Woke crusade for Indigenous voices neglects to acknowledge the voices of actual First Nations citizens carrying decades of lived experiences.

Labor’s systemic attack on dissenting voters indicates a blatant disregard for the spirit of a true referendum. Australians are no longer being asked to vote based on merit or preference, but rather on misguided ideals handed down by their employers, sponsors, or governing bodies.

The potential problems with the proposed Voice to Parliament have already been covered elsewhere. If nothing else, voting ‘No’ is not just a vote for racial equality or common sense leadership; it’s a resounding rejection of the demands shelled out by tone-deaf elites.