‘The Voice’ Was Only a Test for Bigger Change to Our Constitution

The Voice to Parliament was all in aid of manufacturing an Australian republic.

Prime MInister Anthony Albanese in Sydney, on Nov. 1, 2023. AAP Image/Dean Lewins

Commentary

Upon reflection, it is incredible to me just how quickly the dust has settled after the Australian people defeated Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Voice to Parliament.

But while most Australians are moving on with their lives, it’s important to put the referendum into what I sincerely believe is its truest context.

The referendum was nothing but a political stunt, in the most clinical sense of the phrase.

Its sole intent was to goad the Australian people into signing a blank cheque on constitutional reform by way of emotional manipulation.

It was never ultimately about improving the welfare of Aboriginal Australians; indeed, Aboriginal people have been, and should feel, used.

Instead, the Voice to Parliament was all in aid of manufacturing an Australian republic—in the same way, that the amendments to the Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Act 1984 were, and in the same way that the proposed Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2023 is.

Effectively, the referendum was taxpayer-funded market research, an experiment to see what sort of tactics and strategies would and would not work in a 21st-century Australian referendum.

For this reason, I think the prime minister’s heart was never really in the Voice to Parliament, and I think that is why he so poorly articulated his arguments for it.

Meanwhile, whilst there was never an assistant minister for The Voice, Matt Thistlethwaite remains the Albanese government’s Assistant Minister for “the Republic” (what republic?). No doubt obsessively analysing the results of the failed Voice experiment.

Mr. Albanese should immediately terminate Mr. Thistlethwaite from this shameful assistant ministry, as well as remove the portfolio in its entirety. The Australian people, seemingly, have no appetite for constitutional reform.

But I am sure the prime minister has no intention of doing such, and his refusal to acquiesce signals to the Australian people that his government, whatever heartfelt platitudes it might offer, remains militantly committed to detrimental constitutional change.

If Not Now, When?

The reprehensible notion that in this country, there can and should exist a taxpayer-funded minister of the Crown whose sole purpose is to abolish our constitutional monarchy and empower the political class must be railed against.

This is a challenge all conservative politicians in the federal Parliament should mount against the republican Albanese government.

Indeed, some commentators are taking up their grievances against Mr. Thistlethwaite; I must note Nicolle Flint’s recent proactivity in scrutinising his ministerial performance, because her efforts present us with alarming findings.

The former member of Parliament for Boothby confirmed, via a Freedom of Information request, that Mr. Thistlethwaite, as assistant minister for the Republic, has not issued or drafted one single press release, transcript, or speech since being appointed to the newly-created portfolio on June 1, 2022.

Assistant Minister for the Republic Matt Thistlethwaite shakes hands with Australian Governor-General David Hurley during a swearing-in ceremony at Government House in Canberra, Australia, on June 1, 2022. AAP Image/Lukas Coch

Of his $263,750 (US$167,800) salary, the assistant minister’s republican portfolio earns him approximately $17,500 per annum.

And yet we know Mr. Thistlethwaite has been subtly jetting about Australia, preaching his republican desires.

What, exactly, is the assistant minister up to that requires him to travel but, apparently, prohibits him from officially detailing his activities in writing?

Some have recently argued, in the wake of Oct. 14, that the likelihood of a republic referendum in the near future is fanciful. Certainly, I would like to be proven wrong.

But perhaps we may employ our prime minister’s own warning against him: “If not now, when?”

Anthony Albanese, like many of his Labor colleagues and successors, is a Republican of the most dedicated order.

It is not a question of if we shall see a second republic referendum in Australia. It is a question of when that referendum shall be held.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.