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Indigenous leader Marcia Langton has denied calling No voters \u201cracist and stupid\u201d after media reports about her remarks triggered a dispute in federal parliament over truth and lies in the escalating battle for the Voice referendum.<\/p>\n
Langton said she was seeking legal advice on reports that claimed she made the sweeping statement about Australian voters when a recording of her remarks indicated she was criticising the No campaign rather than the targets of its message.<\/p>\n
The storm over her comments came during a wider row when the government accused Opposition Leader Peter Dutton of spreading \u201cdisinformation\u201d on the Indigenous Voice and misquoting ministers on the power of parliament.<\/p>\n
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Marcia Langton addresses the National Press Club on Wednesday.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>James Brickwood<\/cite><\/p>\n Langton, a key author of the Voice after the previous government named her to a peak group that advised on its design, made her criticisms of the No campaign at a public forum in the Western Australian town of Bunbury when she rejected claims the Voice would lead to reparations.<\/p>\n The Coalition cited Langton\u2019s remarks at the opening of question time on Tuesday to demand Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney condemn comments reported in the Bunbury Herald<\/em> and The Australian<\/em>.<\/p>\n Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley cited the reports to tell parliament that Langton had \u201caccused No voters of opposing the referendum because of, quote, base racism or sheer stupidity\u201d, although the report in the Bunbury newspaper said Langton was speaking about the \u201cNo case\u201d and its message to voters.<\/p>\n Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney rejected claims the Voice would trigger reparations. <\/span>Credit: <\/span>Alex Ellinghausen<\/cite><\/p>\n While conservative campaign group Advance Australia spread the remarks by Langton to attack the Yes campaign, Langton told this masthead she did not accuse No voters of racism.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m saying the claims being made by the No case are based in racism and stupidity \u2013 and appeal to racism and stupidity,\u201d Langton said.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd they are appealing to Australians to frighten them into adopting highly racist and stupid beliefs.\u201d<\/p>\n Video and audio of her remarks made it clear Langton was speaking about campaigners rather than voters.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery time the No case raises one of their arguments, if you start pulling it apart, you get down to base racism. I\u2019m sorry to say it but that\u2019s where it lands \u2013 or just sheer stupidity,\u201d she said in an audio obtained by this masthead and a separate video of the forum.<\/p>\n Langton responded to the claims made in parliament by saying her remarks in Bunbury came after a listener at the forum asked if all Aborigines would get compensation if the Yes vote succeeded. She said her answer was that this was untrue and that Indigenous people could only get compensation if a court ruled they had a fair claim, a similar situation to any Australian.<\/p>\n \u201cThe media reporting is a very deliberate tactic to make me look like a racist when I\u2019m not,\u201d Langton said.<\/p>\n \u201cI am not a racist, and I don\u2019t believe that the majority of Australians are racist. I do believe that the no campaigners are using racist tactics.<\/p>\n \u201cI did not say what The Australian<\/em> and the Bunbury Herald<\/em> are reporting,\u201d Langton said. She added that she was getting legal advice.<\/p>\n Questions about truth dominated parliament on Tuesday when Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus called Dutton the \u201cleader of a misinformation and disinformation campaign\u201d on the Voice, venting frustration over the Coalition\u2019s support for the No case as it increases its lead in public polls.<\/p>\n Dutton responded with a claim that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese would \u201cdivide our country right down the middle\u201d at the referendum on October 14 when most voters rejected the government call to enshrine the Voice in the Constitution.<\/p>\n Opposition Leader Peter Dutton was the focus of Labor\u2019s attacks on Tuesday.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Alex Ellingahusen<\/cite><\/p>\n The vigorous debate highlighted Labor\u2019s attempt to brand Dutton a liar and convince voters he would remain a negative figure in national affairs whatever the outcome on the Voice, while the opposition leader claimed Albanese had bungled the referendum and could not be trusted.<\/p>\n The Coalition challenged the government on the implications of the Voice by questioning Burney about whether the group would clear the way for reparation payments, a change some First Australians support.<\/p>\n Burney said \u201cthe Voice to parliament, this referendum, is not about reparations\u201d and echoed previous statements from Albanese that rejected reparations, after Education Minister Jason Clare said on Tuesday morning it was \u201crubbish\u201d to claim the Voice would lead to compensation payments.<\/p>\n Dutton stood soon afterwards to suggest that Burney had made a statement she did not make.<\/p>\n \u201cCan the minister confirm her advice in her previous answer that the parliament can override the provisions of the Constitution?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n Burney had not made that assertion.<\/p>\n Dreyfus then accused Dutton of spreading \u201clegal nonsense\u201d about the Voice.<\/p>\n \u201cThat is what we have heard repeatedly from this leader of the opposition, who will stop at nothing in his campaign of disinformation and misinformation,\u201d Dreyfus said.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has misled the people of Australia repeatedly throughout this campaign. And he should be Dutton has in recent weeks falsely claimed it was wrong to count a tick as a Yes vote and said, falsely, that the referendum question could be changed before October 14.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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ashamed of himself.\u201d<\/p>\n