On October 14th it won’t just be the people of Aotearoa heading to the ballot box. Australians will be taking part in a referendum over whether their government should introduce an advisory group which would consult on legislation affecting Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders. 

Should the Indigenous voice to parliament be passed, Australia’s constitution will be updated, and future Governments would have to head to the polls again to make any changes. 

Aotearoa could face a similar conversation if ACT achieves its campaign goals and gets a referendum over co-governance and the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, while referendums could become commonplace, now that New Zealand First is campaigning on the abolition of MPs’ conscience vote and having the voting public decide moral calls. 

So how likely is The Voice to Parliament to pass? What sort of opposition has it faced? And has how divided has Australia become? 

Today on The Front Page, Damien speaks to Tom McIlroy, a political correspondent for The Australian Financial Review, to find out how their referendum is going – and what it could mean if we go down the same path.  

Host: Damien Venuto
Producer: Shaun D Wilson 
Executive Producer: Ethan Sills