In an exercise of rearranging the deck chairs, the Voice campaign is dropping celebrity advocates:
They are doing so because "Australians don't like being told what to do". Seriously. So it's goodbye to Adam Goodes, Cathy Freeman, Ash Barty, et al.
Instead of this high profile cohort being the centre piece of the Yes advertising campaign, they are to be replaced by 'ordinary Australians' telling us what to do. Genius!
Watched some of the annual NAIDOC awards last night and it was Voiceathon from go to whoa. Casey Donovan and her co-host did their best in a cavernous room amid production hiccups but struggled to warm up a muted audience. The sense the Voice campaign is in trouble was palpable.
Interestingly Linda Burney, who looked a million dollars and a world away from oppressed aborigines, suddenly found her voice. Reading directly from a written speech there was no sign of a perceived speech impediment, so often afflicting her media and parliamentary performances. Good for her.
Nah, if the Voice is to be salvaged then Albo, who also pumped up the NAIDOC crowd, needs to smell the coffee and postpone the referendum pending a review.
Otherwise he is negligently setting up Voice supporters for an inevitable and massive disappointment. Given that, his leadership will be severely damaged and it's hard to see him surviving this folly.
