Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is facing increasing pressure to answer key questions about the Voice to parliament, as Australians begin to cast their vote in the first referendum since 1999.
The Australian Electoral Commission began the immense and challenging task of remote voting on Monday, with dozens of polling teams set to use a variety of transport methods to reach thousands of Australians across the country over the next few weeks ahead of October 14.
Asked to give specifics at his own press conference on Tuesday morning, Mr Albanese could not give clear answers about what the implications were of a “No” vote, what options the government would consider in the event the referendum failed, or why he thought “Yes” was trailing so significantly in the polls.
“We have a referendum system in our Constitution where you need a majority support in a majority of states. That’s what we’re campaigning for, that’s what I hope occurs,” he said.Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says the PM is treating Australians ‘like mugs’. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Tertius Pickard “I’m focused on a Yes vote in the referendum, and I’m hoping that a majority of Australians do vote Yes in this referendum,” he said.On whether he was confident that the Yes campaign had reached everyone it needed to considering voting had now begun, Mr Albanese said he was confident that “Indigenous Australians will overwhelmingly be voting Yes in this referendum”.
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'Pull this referendum': Albanese urged to drop Voice as support slidesShadow immigration minister Dan Tehan has called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to 'pull' the Voice referendum after a new poll showed support had hit its lowest level yet.
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