![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/voice-referendum-lies-fuel-racism-ahead-of-australias-indigenous-vote/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/130790218_gettyimages-1593394059-1.jpg&description=Image source, Supllied: Thomas Mayo Image caption, Campaigner Thomas Mayo says racist abuse is rampant ahead of Australia's referendum "People have been let off the leash," Thomas Mayo says quietly, swiping through screenshots. Racist memes depicting First Nations Australians as "grifters", "wife beaters" and "primitives" flash across his phone. Then, personal threats appear - accusing him of "providing cover for evil". Mr Mayo is one of the public faces of the Yes campaign in Australia's historic Voice to Parliament referendum, to be held on 14 October. If successful, the vote will change the nation's constitution for the first time in 46 years, creating a body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to advise the government on policies affecting their communities. Opinion polls had long shown support for the change but now suggest the No vote is leading. Though some argue the shift reflects public sentiment, Yes campaigners blame it on an ecosystem of disinformation - which they say is being led by figures in the No camp and "amplified" by suspicious accounts on social media. Independent experts say the most "pernicious" and pervasive falsehoods "spreading like wildfire" online concern race. Amid all the noise, concerns are growing over the mental health of First Nations communities, who find themselves at the centre of an increasingly divisive debate. And questions are again being raised over whether Australia is ready to grapple with the open wounds at the heart of its nationhood. Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (centre) says the Voice is an idea "whose time has come" Some of the most difficult chapters include massacres and violence against First Nations people and the theft of their land and livelihoods. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians weren't counted in the nation's census until 1971, and for most of last century many of their children were forcibly removed by the government under assimilati){kind=link}
“People have been let off the leash,” Thomas Mayo says quietly, swiping through screenshots.
Racist memes depicting First Nations Australians as “grifters”, “wife beaters” and “primitives” flash across his phone.
Then, personal threats appear – accusing him of “providing cover for evil”.
Mr Mayo is one of the public faces of the Yes campaign in Australia’s historic Voice to Parliament referendum, to be held on 14 October.
If successful, the vote will change the nation’s constitution for the first time in 46 years, creating a body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to advise the government on policies affecting their communities.