CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
It seems there has been enough rain in regional Australia this year for the National Party to delve back into the murky culture wars debates that worked so well for the Coalition in Victoria over the weekend.
The quest for some sort of emotive response to anything they have to say has become so desperate that the Nationals have this week come out swinging at The Indigenous Voice To Parliament.
The little brother of an unelectable Liberal Opposition say that they will formally oppose this attempt at doing something kindhearted and universally well received, in a significant blow to Peter Dutton’s attempts to moderate the Coalition away from the binfire brand that lost them 20 seats at the Federal Election this year.
Nationals leader David Littleproud said the party doesn’t want to ’create another layer of bureaucracy here in Canberra’ but instead want to empower Aboriginal people at a local level – which would be a completely new direction for a political party that exists purely to open up new coal mines and sell off water licenses.
It is not known what the Nats have planned for the Aboriginal people in their electorates, who make up the most incarcerated people in the world, but cementing themselves as an unhelpful barb in the only positive political conversation is a good start.
Announcing the decision with the party leaders on Monday was Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, an Indigenous woman who has made a name for herself over the last couple years by saying exactly what the rednecks what to hear on Sky News as a professional devil’s advocate.
This decision to oppose The Voice, while extremely damaging for the Federal Coalition’s electability in 2026, has done wonders for the political trajectory of Senator Jactina Price, who has officially been promoted from her previous role as ‘the only one they have’ to her shiny new position as ‘one of the good ones’.
Central-West NSW Nationals MP Andrew Gee has been quick to point out that he disagrees with his party’s official stance and is a supporter of the Voice, as someone who doesn’t think stoking racist hot buttons amongst frustrated rural voters is really going to achieve anything other than a few Murdoch headlines and ruined Christmas dinners.
