Anthony Albanese joins Jess Rowe to talk about what’s driving his Voice Referendum push

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese appeared on The Jess Rowe Big Talk Show podcast today, discussing the upcoming Voice Referendum, why it’s important and what has been his driving force for the push.

The episode which will be released on LiSTNR tomorrow, sees the Prime Minister reveal how his Catholic upbringing is driving his support for constitutional recognition. 

Mr Albanese says he believes fear and misinformation are the biggest risks to the referendum.

“Fear can be a powerful emotion. And particularly when it is combined with some of the misinformation out there. The truth is that this will not change the lives directly of non-Indigenous Australians at all, it’s just giving some small proportion, 3 percent of Australians who are Indigenous, the opportunity to be heard,” he said. 

“There are some people who have said to me, ‘Gee, you know, it’s a risk having a referendum.’ Which it is. There hasn’t been one this century. And I say, well, if not now, when? And if not me, who’s going to do it? So, of course, it’s a risk and that’s one of the things that is driving, I think, some of the opposition and some of them have said it very explicitly, that they see it as an opportunity to damage me or damage the government by campaigning for no, which is unfortunate because it’s not about me or the government, it’s actually about something. 

“It’s far bigger. It’s about who we are as a country and whether…we will wake up on October 15, as we did after the Apology, and feel better about ourselves and feel a bigger country or whether we’ll shrink in on ourselves and be frightened of making a change. We need to do better.”

Other topics covered by the Prime Minister on the podcast include being blindsided by his marriage ending, almost losing his life in a car accident and where he is happiest. 

Find the chat on LiSTNR’s The Jess Rowe Big Talk Show podcast tomorrow.