The Voice to Parliament Referendum: Deliberative Democracy and Settler Colonialism

This chapter discusses the 2023 Indigenous Voice to Parliament (‘Voice’) referendum from the perspective of deliberative democracy. I discuss the risk a key concept in deliberative democracy theory, public deliberation, poses to Indigenous people’s political claims in a settler colonial context.

Referendums are useful for studying the ideals of deliberative democracy in action. The Voice referendum could have been a significant moment for deliberative democracy. For example, the proposal to enshrine an Indigenous Voice to Parliament was a call for a new deliberative body to be established, made up of Indigenous people capable of making ‘representations to the Parliament and the Executive on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.’

Yet, the Voice was soundly defeated at referendum by a clear majority of voters (>60%). Public deliberation relating to the Voice referendum was beset by misinformation and often racial stereotyping. Opponents of the Voice had successfully managed to demonise the Voice as legally risk and a threat to Australian democracy. They also deployed the slogan ‘Don’t know, vote no’ to discourage voters from trying to understand the intent of the Voice and why it was important for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

With all this in mind, this chapter argues that the Voice referendum is an example of the challenging circumstances settler colonialism poses to the normative claims of deliberative democracy and the political claims of Indigenous peoples. Studies of deliberative democracy, Indigenous people, and settler colonialism remain undertheorized and understudied within the field of deliberative democracy. The 2023 Voice to Parliament referendum suggests the field of deliberative democracy has much to learn about settler colonialism and Indigenous peoples.