Only 9% Of South Australians Trust Canberra Voice To Improve Outcome – ‘No’ Vote Ahead of ‘Yes’.

“South Australians have sent a strong message, they do not believe the Canberra Voice to Parliament will improve the lives of Indigenous Australians, and support for the proposal continues to fall,” said Daniel Wild, Deputy Executive Director of the Institute of Public Affairs 

Today, the IPA released new polling of 660 South Australians on the Voice to Parliament, which found respondents believe creating employment opportunities and limiting access to alcohol would achieve more than the proposed Canberra based Voice.

When asked of their voting intention, South Australians responded: 42% No, 39% Yes, and 19% Unsure.

When asked, “which of the following is most likely to improve the day-to-day lives of Indigenous South Australians living in remote parts of the state?”, results were as follows:

• More local job opportunities: 37%
• Prohibitions on alcohol purchases and consumption: 20%
• Implementation of income management, such as a cashless debit card: 14%
• More police and local law enforcement capabilities: 10%
• The South Australian Voice to Parliament: 10%
• A Canberra based Indigenous Voice to Parliament: 9%

Surprisingly, not a single Indigenous South Australian surveyed indicated their preference for a Canberra based Voice, as did only 14% of Labor voters and 20% of Greens voters.

The research found Indigenous South Australians believe the policy that would most likely improve lives in their communities was the implementation of income management, such as a cashless debit card, with 39% responding in favour of it compared with state-wide of 14%.

“The results show that Indigenous South Australians support practical interventions, such as cashless debit cards, which we know work, rather than another Canberra-based bureaucracy,” said Mr Wild.

The polling also showed when South Australians learn that the Canberra Voice will be enshrined in the Constitution, unlike their state-based Voice, respondents are even less favourable towards it;

• Yes: 35%

• No: 44%
• Unsure: 22%

Indigenous South Australians indicated that they were far more likely to vote ‘No’ than ‘Yes’. Of Indigenous Australians surveyed:

• Yes: 27%
• No: 37%
• Unsure 36%

“While many South Australians believe that more work needs to be done to achieve better outcomes for Indigenous Australians in remote communities, the results are clear, they do not trust the proposed Canberra-based Voice to Parliament to achieve this,” Mr Wild said.

“This reinforces the reality that the Canberra Voice to Parliament, with all of its economic, social, and legal risk, presents little discernible practical benefit to remote Indigenous communities in South Australia.”