Linda Burney accuses Aussies voting ‘NO’ in the Voice to Parliament of being like Trump supporters

Indigenous Affairs minister Linda Burney has slammed opponents of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, claiming they are dividing Australia by ‘importing American-style Trump politics’.

The Labor minister made the scathing attack against the ‘No’ campaign as the debate on the referendum moved to the Senate.

‘I fear that the ‘No’ campaign is importing American style-Trump politics to Australia,’ she told the Committee of Economic Development of Australia event in Canberra. 

She argued at the ‘heart’ of the campaign against the Voice ‘is a post-truth approach to politics’.

‘The Australian people are better than Trump politics from the ‘No’ campaign; a ‘No’ campaign that has no solutions for the challenges that we face,’ she said. 

Indigenous Affairs minister Linda Burney (pictured) has claimed opponents of the Voice referendum were ‘importing American-style Trump politics’ to Australia

Ms Burney stated that the main objective of the ‘No’ campaign was to divide the country.

‘Its aim is to polarise people, and its weapon of choice is misinformation,’ she said.

She also took aim against Fair Australia, which is the primary campaign against the Voice which is being led by Shadow Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price.

Ms Burney accused Fair Australia of regularly posting content on social media that was ‘clearly false or taken out of context’.

‘For instance, the No campaign uses an image and a quote of Bob Hawke on social media as if to suggest that the former PM didn’t support recognition of Indigenous Australians,’ she said.

‘We know that Bob Hawke strongly supported recognition.

‘Bob’s wife Blanche made it clear to me that Bob’s greatest regret in his public life was not advancing the cause of Indigenous recognition.’

The Indigenous Australians minister said the Voice would be a ‘positive’ step forward for the country.

‘The Voice is about making a practical difference, and the ‘Yes’ campaign is articulating a positive vision of Australia’s future,’ she said.

‘The ‘No’ campaign is not doing either of those things.’

Ms Burney accused the key ‘No’ campaign led by Shadow Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price (pictured), of regularly posting ‘false’ content on social media

It comes following two polls released this week, with one showing support for the Voice to Parliament is ‘steady’ while the other found the ‘No’ vote is ahead.

A poll of 1,606 voters, published by Nine newspapers late on Monday, is the first significant poll to show the ‘No’ side now leading.

The Resolve Strategic survey showed the share of people nationally who approve of enshrining the Voice in the constitution has dropped to 49 per cent, down from 53 per cent in May.

However, the Resolve findings were contradicted by a Guardian Essential poll released on Tuesday. 

The Essential poll of 1,123 voters found 60 per cent of people were in favour of the Voice – up one percentage point on the previous survey.

It also showed 40 per cent of respondents were opposed to the change compared to the Resolve survey’s findings of 51 per cent.