A vote handled badly by Christians

Recently the Australia electorate voted on an important constitutional referendum which would have recognised the indigenous Aboriginal people in the constitution and would have established a separate indigenous Voice to the Parliament.

In order to pass, this amendment required four of the six federal states to vote in favour, as well as a majority of the electorate. In the event every single state voted against, and over 60% of the electorate. It was a humiliating and, to some, surprising result. Some have called it Australia’s Brexit moment.

The problem was not the first part, the question of recognition. That would have passed overwhelmingly. The issue was the setting up of a separate constitutional body based on race. To many ordinary people it looked like discrimination based on race.

The debate itself was very one-sided. The vast majority of corporations, trade unions, sporting clubs, universities, etc., were all in favour of the Voice. Australia’s not-for-profits, banks, insurance companies, academic institutions, professional bodies, also all came out in support. With the backing of government and the big corporations the money available for the Yes campaign was ten times that of the No. In certain academic and celebrity professions to state that you were voting No would have been career suicide. Those who dared to say they would vote No were accused of being ignorant and racist. The Prime Minister told us all to vote Yes in order to be ‘kind’. And yet the proposal was overwhelmingly defeated.

It is fascinating that the general rule seems to have been that the constituencies with the least indigenous populations – in effect the wealthy metropolitan centres and some rich suburbs voted Yes, whereas the areas with the most voted No. It is not without significance that the star of the No campaign was the indigenous Senator Jacinta Price.

Just as in the Brexit vote, the church tended to reflect the divisions of society. Most denominational leaderships, including the Catholics and Sydney Anglicans, and most interdenominational leaders, including TEAR Fund, spoke in support of the Voice. On the other hand, well-known Christian commentators like the former deputy Prime Minister, John Anderson, were leading figures in the No campaign.

This was a referendum that was not handled well by either the politicians or the church. Whatever the politicians do, it is surely the responsibility of the church to proclaim Christ – and urge all peoples everywhere to repent! (Acts 17:3).