Polling that for months had pointed to a comprehensive defeat of the Voice to Parliament referendum turned out to be accurate, as Australians voted overwhelmingly against the proposal on the weekend.
The fallout from the referendum result and the worsening conflict in Israel and Gaza dominated proceedings in Canberra this week, but the Albanese Government was keen to move on and refocus on economic issues and the government’s other policy priorities.
As debate continues over Australia’s response to the Israeli crisis, let’s catch up on all the week’s major developments.
Finger pointing and blame game over referendum drubbing
Despite polls predicting a comprehensive victory for the No campaign, the Yes campaign remained surprised by the scale of the referendum loss on Saturday.
Not a single state voted to enshrine the Voice to Parliament in Australia’s constitution, with Victoria reporting the closest Yes result at 44.87 per cent based on the latest counting.
The ACT was the only jurisdiction to record a Yes vote, with Queensland recording the strongest No vote at 69 per cent.
It was undoubtedly a case of cities vs regions, with inner city seats in every capital city across the country voting Yes and not a single regional seat endorsing the proposal. The inner-metropolitan and handful of outer metropolitan seats that voted Yes, 33 in total, are largely held by Labor, the Greens and the Teals. Just one Coalition-held seat – Paul Fletcher’s inner Sydney seat of Bradfield – voted Yes.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney spoke on Saturday night, accepting responsibility for the result and promising it was not the end of reconciliation.
The Opposition spent this week in Parliament asking the government about its continued support for truth-telling and Treaty processes, in light of Australians’ decision on a Voice to Parliament, and criticising the Prime Minister for proceeding with the referendum despite the predictions of a heavy loss.
In Queensland, the Liberal National Party withdrew its support for the Palaszczuk Government’s own Treaty plans, prompting the Premier to say they would not proceed without bipartisan support.
The Indigenous leaders at the helm of the Yes23 campaign on Saturday night said they would enforce a ‘week of silence’ and mourning in the wake of the result, before they re-engaged with the Albanese Government on the way forward.
Divisions in Labor Party emerge over Israel support
Government frontbencher Ed Husic yesterday became the most senior member of the Labor Party to question Australia’s unwavering support for Israel after last week’s horrifying terrorist attacks by Hamas, suggesting Israel might be responsible for war crimes in the conflict.
Husic said he felt Palestinians were being ‘collectively punished’ for the attacks on Israel by Hamas, a war crime prohibited by international humanitarian law. Junior minister Anne Aly backed in the claims, prompting the opposition to accuse the pair of being out of step with government policy.
Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers, in a later media appearance yesterday, denied the two frontbenchers were at odds with the government’s stance and said the Prime Minister had also called for the protection of civilian lives in the region.
Labor backbencher Maria Vamvakinou joined Greens MPs at a pro-Palestine rally at Parliament House yesterday.
The Prime Minister and the Labor Party have been quietly managing the pro-Palestine views held by many of its Left faction members since internal tensions flared ahead of August’s Labor Party National Conference.
Albanese will travel to Washington DC next week for an official visit to the White House, amid criticism from Peter Dutton that he should be travelling to Tel Aviv to show support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. US President Joe Biden made a flying visit to Israel this week, pledging US support for Israel and $100m in humanitarian aid for Gaza and the West Bank.
Labour force data confirms cooling jobs market
Monthly employment figures released yesterday by the Treasurer revealed a slight drop in the unemployment rate from 3.7 to 3.6 per cent. The participation rate fell slightly to 66.7 per cent.
The data revealed the unemployment rate drop was not due to unemployed Australians moving into work, but rather an increase in the amount of people giving up looking for work, which removes them from the labour market.
The Treasurer said the war in the Middle East was likely to have an impact on global oil prices and that inflation will remain persistently high for some time. It has stoked fears of another rate rise when the RBA Board meets in just under two weeks.
National Skills Agreement
This week, the federal government signed off on a $12.6 billion National Skills Agreement which outlines federal and state government funding for vocational education and training over the next five years. The federal government has secured the support of all Australian states and territories on the agreement, made easier by the fact that all states and territories except Tasmania are Labor governments.
The agreement was meant to be completed in 2022 but was delayed by state objections to the-then Morrison government’s proposal. The change of government then caused further delays.
The National Skills Agreement outlines national priorities for skills capability and seeks to address the areas of Australia’s economy suffering from skills shortages. These areas include care (aged care, childcare, health care and disability care), technology and digital, hospitality and tourism, construction, agriculture, and sovereign capability. The agreement secures funding for states and territories to invest in training and education programs in these areas in an effort to increase the skilled workforce across these sectors.
Opposition calls for royal commission into child sex abuse in Indigenous communities
The Coalition attempted to suspend standing orders in the House of Representatives on Thursday morning to introduce a motion calling for a royal commission into child sex abuse in Indigenous communities.
It followed the Senate on Tuesday voting down a similar motion from Shadow Indigenous Affairs Minister Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, who says it is important the voices of victims are heard so progress can be made.
The government, and Senate crossbenchers who voted down Tuesday’s motion, said more urgent action was needed to address shockingly high incidences of child sexual abuse in Indigenous communities. Senior Indigenous leaders have also slammed the move, saying the Coalition was politicising the issue.
The opposition have called for a royal commission and an audit of Indigenous spending in remote communities in the wake of the referendum’s defeat.
And in news from outside the bubble…
There has been a lot of interesting developments in sport and pop culture this week starting with the alleged rip-off of Australia’s much loved children’s show Bluey. A US network has launched a new animated series called Chip Chilla that looks and sounds awfully similar to our Bluey. Chip Chilla is a show about a family of chinchillas who are homeschooled by their parents and covers their everyday lives. The colours, music and characters closely resemble Bluey, but Bluey creators were quick to point out that nothing will ever be as good as the original.
Sticking with pop culture, every millennial would be following the bombshells dropped by Britney Spears this week in the lead up to the release of her memoir next month. Even before the book was written there were reports of a number of high-profile celebrities asking their lawyers to seek injunctions. Perhaps this is why the book went from 320 pages to now only 288.
Australia has had its own influx of celebrities this week, including one of our greatest Hollywood talents, Nicole Kidman, for the inaugural South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Sydney. The creative arts festival SXSW debuted 36 years ago and this is the first time the festival is being held outside its home Austin Texas. The program includes musical performances, film screenings, gaming competitions, tech showcases and industry talks/panels. Having spoken to numerous people involved in the program and others who have simply attended the event, all agree that it has been an incredible showcase and hope to see it become a permanent annual fixture in Australia.
Parliament resumes next week for Senate Estimates, however a scheduled sitting week for the House of Representatives was cancelled by the government last month.
The 2024 Sitting Calendar was also released by the government this week, attracting criticism from the opposition for having fewer than usual sitting days.