A friend recently told me he was voting NO in the VOICE referendum because he was concerned about high court challenges. His concern was based on opinion offered in the NO section of the Federal Government’s recent information booklet. He was less engaged, it would seem, by the opinion from scholars in the YES section […]

A friend recently told me he was voting NO in the VOICE referendum because he was concerned about high court challenges. His concern was based on opinion offered in the NO section of the Federal Government’s recent information booklet. He was less engaged, it would seem, by the opinion from scholars in the YES section of the document suggesting that no such challenges would occur. I would argue that my friend’s conclusion was influenced by the ‘confirmation bias,’ in turn driven by tribalism or identification with the Liberal Party.  A relative recently spoke to me about the VOICE with reverence, suggesting it simply had to succeed. She held this view despite not understanding the wording of the change to the constitution and demonstrating very little understanding of any potential consequences of the proposed changes. While I make no judgement about the merits or otherwise of the proposed changes to the…