Architect of The Voice hits out at the misinformation being spread online: Here’s how he says it will help Indigenous Australians
- Voice architect Thomas Mayo slammed media headlines
- He said there was plenty of misinformation about the Voice
- The Yes campaigner responded to an ad featuring him
Prominent ‘Yes’ campaigner and Voice architect Thomas Mayo has slammed the media for publishing ‘negative headlines’ on ‘positive stories’ about the Voice to Parliament.
Speaking at a recent event organised by the University of Melbourne and Melbourne Press Club, Mr Mayo expressed his frustration with the detrimental impact of these headlines on the campaign.
‘It’s been frustrating to see positive stories with negative headlines, and that is something that has been concerning,’ he said last week.
‘People tend to just read the headlines from time to time, and that doesn’t help us.’
Voice to Parliament architect Thomas Mayo (pictured) has slammed ‘negative’ media headlines on ‘positive stories’ during a talk at a University of Melbourne and Melbourne Press Club event
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (pictured centre with Mr Mayo on the right) has assured the public this is a ‘modest’ request which will not impact the lives of most Australians, but make a world of difference to the nation’s most vulnerable
The union official also noted the misinformation circulating on social media, which he described as ‘terrible’.
He encouraged attendees at the event to speak to everybody they could ‘possibly influence’ to make them know the Voice is ‘about fairness, recognition and a say for people that decisions are made about’.
Mr Mayo gained attention last month when a series of resurfaced tweets from 2018 made headlines, in which he expressed the importance of repatriations, returning land, and providing fair compensation to Indigenous people.
He said the voice could pave the way to make the ‘Pay the Rent’ campaign a reality and to change the date of Australia Day.
The ‘Pay the Rent’ movement wants homeowners to voluntarily pay a percentage of their income to Aboriginal elders without any government oversight or intervention.
Mr Mayo has since told Daily Mail Australia this is a view he no longer supports, stating he does not ‘share that particular view about Australia Day anymore’.
‘These comments are from a number of years ago, with many of them around the time of reporting about Indigenous deaths in custody,’ he said.
‘I support celebrating our nation, I’m a proud Australian, and I believe our democracy is important, and it will be enhanced when Indigenous people are given a say on the matters that affect them such as health and education.’
Mr Mayo said he is now of the understanding a Voice will ‘focus on practical issues that matter to Indigenous communities such as better employment outcomes and housing’.
During his address, Mr Mayo was asked about a controversial cartoon published in the Australian Financial Review.
This Voice No vote newspaper ad that was run in Thursday’s Australian Financial Review has attracted criticism it has a racist depiction of Yes23 activist Thomas Mayo
The cartoon depicted him eaching for a wad of cash labelled ‘$2M’ from Wesfarmer’s chair and Yes23 campaign director Michael Chaney.
The Yes campaigner said he was ‘too busy’ to take notice of the ad and asked the audience, ‘who reads The Australian?’
This was despite the fact the cartoon was in the Australian Financial Review. Nine has since apologised for publishing the ad.
Mr Mayo said if the Voice fails, Australia would be perceived in a negative light around the globe.
‘I don’t think it’s the status quo if we fail, as if that status quo isn’t bad enough … but it is going to be worse because Australians would have officially said no to recognising our existence, our proud Indigenous heritage and culture,’ he said.
‘They would have said no to the simple fairness, to listening to the people you make decisions about, and it would be hugely detrimental to all of us’.
