Anthony Albanese seems to be struggling with the concept of truth-telling, at least when it comes to the topic of The Voice…

The Prime Minister firstly spoke from what Rowan Dean referred to as ‘both sides of his mouth’, saying to Indigenous Australians that we shouldn’t ‘be content with modest change’ but then to everyone else he insisted The Voice was only a ‘modest request’. It cannot be both.

Second, Mr Albanese said to Ben Fordham that The Voice had nothing to do with a Treaty, when the Explanatory Memorandum for The Voice clearly demonstrates that it does.

Third, he said that the Uluru Statement from the Heart was only one-page when Peta Credlin had shown that it was part of a 26-page document (which can be viewed here).

And then finally, Albanese admitted to Neil Mitchell that he hasn’t ‘even read’ the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full, despite repeatedly promising to implement it in full.

Oh dear… If this is a indicative of the ‘truth-telling’ which is supposed to come after the referendum – we are in more trouble as a nation than myself and many others fear. John Anderson, the former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, has also warned that The Voice is founded upon at least four myths, or you could even say, untruths.

I was recently speaking at a religious debate on The Voice with John Anderson where he powerfully argued how undemocratic the whole process around The Voice had become. Anderson said:

‘You’ve had this antidemocratic approach of not trying not trying to take everyone with you. It’s the vibe, not engaging the mind, not trying to explain how it could work. You’ve had obvious obfuscation on the fact that adopting the Uluru Statement in full does mean much more than just recognition and a voice. It means we try to go through a series of treaty making arrangements. Now, whatever you think of that it’s deceptive to try and deny it. It’s deceptive. You shouldn’t be in that game. We’ve broken trust enough in the political process without exacerbating it.’

Anderson then went on to say:

‘My point here more than anything else is that this should be a process of transparency. You’re absolutely free in this country, if your Prime Minister yourself to say, “I believe in The Voice. I believe in treaties. I believe in reparations. I believe in Makarrata. I believe in truth-telling. But it hasn’t been transparent. He’s had to backtrack and deny…and the disingenuousness of going around for years saying the Uluru Statement is 26 pages long and then suddenly it’s only one-page long? It’s breaking trust.’

John Anderson is right. Anthony Albanese has broken trust with the Australian people on The Voice. The Prime Minister has failed to be fully transparent and has consistently obfuscated as to what The Voice will actually entail.

Truth-telling is paramount. Not only with our nation’s history, but also with our country’s political leadership. As Anderson said at the end of the debate:

‘I am fed up, as a sixth or seventh generation Australian with people saying it’s all in the historical past. Our children will rightly judge us for our blindness and our smugness and to the fact that a great deal of the problems – not just in terms of Indigenous disadvantage – are because we have said, anything goes.

‘And maybe, instead of repenting on behalf of our forebears, we might begin with a bit of repentance ourselves of the way that we consistently ignore simple things, like insisting on decency and the law of the land for people who can’t speak up for themselves.’

Get 10 issues for just $10

Subscribe to The Spectator Australia today for the next 10 magazine issues, plus full online access, for just $10.

SUBSCRIBE 10 issues for $10 REGISTER 3 articles a month

Already a subscriber? Log in