Legislation for The Voice referendum passed the Senate on Monday, which saw the Opposition spending much of the parliamentary week firmly focused on questioning Linda Burney over and over again, asking everything from whether the date of Australia Day would be at risk, to whether the Voice could determine military purchases.
Burney has also been targeted across social media, with commentators attacking her performance in parliament, describing her as “clueless” and “embarrassing”.
But Burney’s parliamentary work this week was extraordinary in the face of significant pressure, and clear targeting from the Opposition.
The Minister for Indigenous Affairs became the choice of target constantly, during Question Time, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese calling out the Opposition’s tactic as “sad” and Burney saying they had reached a new “low”, with the “underhand notions” being deployed to undermine the referendum.
The continuous questioning saw Burney reassuring the Opposition that the Voice would not determine military spending, nor change the date of Australia, or matters like “parking tickets”.
“It will not be giving advice on all of the ridiculous things that that side has come up with,” she said pointing across to the opposition. “I will say this to the parliament: they go lower, we go higher.”
Burney said that she has conducted herself with honesty and integrity during every step of the process on the voice, and has “embraced every single person in this parliament if they wished to participate.”
And, at one point during Question Time, Burney shared her experiences of going to communities where homes are seriously overcrowded, babies are drinking sweet cordial because it’s all their parents can afford, and road conditions are so poor that access in and out is severely limited.
“I have taken a friend, who died at 43 of renal failure, to visit his son in jail. I have seen friends die in hospitals because their conditions in their lives when they were younger were terrible,” she said.
“So do not tell me what I do or do not know about Aboriginal Australia. Do not tell me [the Voice] is not needed in this country. I am not interested in culture wars. I am interested in closing the gap.”
The legislation passing the Senate should have signaled the opportunity for the debate over the Voice to shift from politics to the community, launching the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ campaigns. Clearly, the politics remain. And Burney has and looks set to continue to be, a clear target of choice for the Opposition.