July 4, 2023
A majority of voters in the affluent seat of Kooyong oppose changing the Constitution to enshrine an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, a new poll shows.
The survey, conducted a day after the referendum bill passed last month, shows 43.6 per cent of voters surveyed would vote No if the referendum was held that day.
That majority was slim with 42.5 per cent of voters in the inner Melbourne seat in the Yes camp and 14 per cent unsure.
The results fly in the face of Kooyong’s strong record of supporting social and constitutional change.
The Teletown Hall poll of 1338 Kooyong residents on June 20 was commissioned by Victorian Liberal senator James Paterson.
“If Kooyong – which voted by large majorities for the republic and same-sex marriage – is a dead heat on Anthony Albanese’s Canberra Voice, then the Yes campaign is in real trouble,” he said.
“This poll result comes after months of doorknocking, public forums and taxpayer-funded correspondence from their local Teal independent Monique Ryan imploring them to back the Voice.
“But the more Australians learn about what enshrining an Indigenous Voice in the Constitution means, the more they realise that it is legally risky, lacks detail and would be permanent.”
Thousands of people rallied for the Yes campaign across Australia last weekend.
