MANAGING THE POST REFERENDUM FALL OUT
Last night’s post referendum speeches had me glued to the TV.
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I, along with millions of other Australians wanted to see how our Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, would respond following the Referendum loss, and wanted to see how the Opposition Leader, Peter Dutton, would handle his time in rarefied air.
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This has been about politics, make no mistake about it. No Referendum has ever gotten up without bipartisan support, and this was a free hit to a Liberal party trying to regain ground after a demoralising 2022 Federal election loss.
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Albanese positioned himself in the aftermath as a “Conviction Politician”. He was in full-throttle personal-brand damage control. Calm and emotional on the outside, he knows, better than most, how fragile political leadership in Australian politics is.
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Dutton went on the offensive, but would have been better to not politicise his response, drifting into criticising Labour’s leadership in matters of Power Bills and Cost of Living. For mine, Dutton took the shine off what should have been his victory lap, taking cheap shots following the resolution of a life shattering decision for many Australians (39% of Australian’s voted ‘YES”).
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The star of the campaign and clearly the big reputational winner from the Referendum was Indigenous Senator, ?Jacinta Nampijinpa Price. That said, I was baffled by her comment “We (Australia) are not a racist country.” I understand her position throughout the campaign was that the “Yes” campaign was divisive and she asserted that she, and others in the broader Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander community, wanted to be treated as equals (not separated out, through having an exclusive Voice to Parliament). But I think you’d have to be ‘Blind Freddy’ to not believe racism still exists within our society, on so many levels. Whilst she was being pointed, I believe it was a mis-step in her hour of victory, thinly veiled and hard to believe given the world we live in today.
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Through this process, reputations have been damaged and enhanced. This referendum was never going to get up without bipartisan support, but what I’ve learned is the kind of Leader we have and their ability to navigate through the issues.
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In the wash up, “If you don’t know, vote no” seemed to be the winner. It cut through, and Albo was not clear enough in addressing this.
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One thing is for certain, Indigenous health, education and incarceration is on the agenda like never before. Let’s hope our Leaders can be bipartisan in their support of addressing this shameful issue.
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Head of Sales & Marketing at BEERFARM
1 年Got to agree mate the power of a simple message (“If you don’t know, vote no”) that a 5 year old could understand was the only winner in this very complex topic. It's a win for good marketing right?
Marketing Communications Manager at Coles Group
1 年Great closing paragraph. I've been so interested in watching the comms around this over the past few months from both sides. I know why I voted yes but it wasn't based on any advertising campaigns I saw. I hope that your last paragraph rings true and we see some good come from the fallout as all eyes are now on "what happens next".
Purpose driven leader and advisor accelerating transformation and growth.
1 年Good grief. You make the assertion that Price was the big reputational winner with no evidence or analysis to back it up? (After earlier claiming that there are no negative impacts from colonisation aka geneocide, stolen generation etc you'd think any credibility she may have had would have a bit of repair work required....). This was transparently a just a grab bag of thinly disguised sky-news-esque hot takes and opinion with no actual analysis from a professional reputation or brand management perspective. #unfollow
Developing Contemporary Programs for Aspiring Small Businesses
1 年Great insights mate My two greatest regrets are that the leaders of this country could not set aside political point scoring in favour of what was in the best interests of first nation peoeple and this country as a whole. When will our politicians learn that finding common ground is not a sign of concession and weakness, but rather one of strength and integrity. No matter how you voted the liberal and labour parties let all of Australia down and we should be ashamed of them My second regret was the appalling bias in the vote coverage by the ABC. This cannot be tolerated any more.
Delivering ICT Strategy, AI, and Digital Leadership to the Not-for-Profit
1 年I would rather say “if you don’t know, don’t vote”. It’s only a $20 fine (a sacrifice) compared to a Yes or No vote that could change the lives of many deprived indigenous Australians and result in intangible loss in trust and faith in the government whether they be in power or in opposition.