What I and all Australians were being urged was to say ‘Yes’ to a concept. 

The ‘Voice’ was almost like a thought bubble. It brought to mind Genesis 1:1,2 in the Holy Bible.  “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form and void … ‘ 

This entry in holy writ could be applied to the proposed constitutional setting of ‘the Voice’, born of the Albanese Government. “ In 2022/23, a ‘voice’ was proposed. And the Voice was a concept without structure  or substance.”

A pamphlet that was produced and widely circulated by those supporting the Yes campaign gave us a significant clue as to why many people voted ‘NO”. As the graph in the pamphlet pointed out, people were being asked to vote for a concept without details about what structure might support the voice if the referendum succeeded.

In essence, people were being asked to vote for an idea or an ideal, around which no material facts or operational understanding has been determined.

The other important point was the referendum has a straightforward question of yes or no. The element not apparent to everyone was wording that would go into the Constitution if the referendum had passed.

In my opinion, the wording proposed for the Constitution should have been part of the question. But was deliberately never included.