Australia’s largest corporations – BHP, Rio Tinto, Wesfarmers and all the big 4 banks – donated millions to the Yes campaign for the Voice to Parliament.
There is no doubt that if the Voice had been supported, it would have been a Voice for them and others from the elite sections of our society.
Fortunately, Australians do not like being told what to do by our self-appointed “betters”. On the weekend, Australia’s rebellious spirit shone through. Not only was the proposed Voice to Parliament rejected, it looks like it was rejected with the 6th highest No vote of any referendum in our history.
So now that the Voice is over, it is time to listen. It is time for the big corporations, who are meant to provide goods and services to Australians, to listen to what people want. It is time for the Government to listen to the concerns of average Australians who are struggling to pay their bills and their mortgages.
Because of the Prime Minister’s refusal to compromise, the Voice referendum ended up being a $400 million waste of money. If we are to have future referendums they should occur on the same day as a normal election so it does not cost us so much.
One redeeming feature of the whole saga was that it allowed me to have many with people as they came into vote. Most of them wanted to talk about things other than the Voice. The cost of living, energy, health services, the problems in the Middle East.
The conversations I had with most yes campaigners were cordial and friendly. We can disagree without being disagreeable.
Now is the time for the Government to get back to focusing on those issues that are most important to people. Clearly the main issue is the cost of living.
The Government could help by dropping its obsession with renewable energy which is proving to be the most expensive form of power. Every country that has installed large amounts of wind and solar ends up paying more for electricity.
The Government could drop its heavy handed regulation of the oil and gas industries to attract investment and more supply. Last year the Government introduced a price-fixing scheme for oil and gas projects and since then investment has dried up, including on the $1 billion Senex gas project in Western Queensland.
More gas could help lower gas prices and over time if we find more oil we could break the hold that Saudi Arabia and Russia has over our oil supplies.
Most of all the Government needs to focus on promoting economic growth. If we fail to increase our productivity that will put more pressure on inflation. In turn, that may cause the Reserve Bank to raise interest rates even further.
The Government often acts like higher prices have nothing to do with them and that they are victims of wars overseas and international events. That is not true. We are a big country with lots of resources. If we develop those resources to become energy independent and to produce a strong economy we can bring inflation down.
I always thought the Voice was a strange description for a government agency based in Canberra. People do not want to be lectured to by Canberra. They want them to listen and to hear.
