MSM bias on Australia's Voice referendum

The 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum, Australia’s answer to Trumpamania and Brexit, is only weeks away, and even American celebrities like Shaq and MC Hammer have been supporting the Yes campaign. Source. CNN recently reported on the referendum, supposedly presenting a diversity of views, though the only No campaigner mentioned was atypical, believing that the Voice doesn’t go far enough (“Give back what you stole”). Source. Australian singer Kamahl caused farcical scenes on The Project, a ‘news’ show on one of Australia’s main metropolitan networks, by flipping his yes vote, previously a no vote, back to being a no vote. The left-leaning hosts, effectively serving the Yes campaign, were apparently disappointed and surprised at ‘having’ to argue with a No voter when they thought they would be further promoting the Yes vote, with one host finally stating: “It’s not our job to persuade people, you know, it’s our job to present the facts and for people to come up with their own opinion, but I think…” Source.

Okay then.

One host also attempted to fact-check Kamahl’s claim, common amongst No voters, that around $40 billion dollars is already being spent on Indigenous Australians annually, indicating it is misinformation. The government-funded ABC News did likewise, whilst effectively noting that a government report actually confirms this as true (factoring for inflation, and without even including total expenditure), which is now quite typical of fact-checks: “Its analysis found the figure likely came from a 2017 Productivity Commission review which found around $33 billion in 2015-16 was spent on First Nations people — but the vast majority (around $27 billion) of that was mainstream spending on things like schools, hospitals, welfare and defence.” Source. They go on to say that “around $556 billion was spent on non-Indigenous Australians”, without noting that Indigenous Australians only make up around 3-4% of the population. They fail to disclose that the very same report they refer to states: “the estimated expenditure per person was $44 886 for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, around twice the rate for non‑Indigenous Australians ($22 356)”. Source. It’s almost as if Australians, most of whom appear to support the No campaign according to recent polling, including some high profile ‘no-voting’ Indigenous Australians, have had enough of hearing about how awful they are for simply existing and about what else can be done for a small part of the population, and are more concerned with ‘little things’ like “the cost of living and the cost of housing” for all. Source.

Okay then.

Extra: With regards to ABC’s misleading reporting about the money spent on Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, apparently the base rate fallacy is only an issue when COVID Skeptics point out that most of the people suffering from COVID are vaccinated. And even then, the base rate fallacy doesn’t always apply, with plentiful evidence that, proportions properly accounted for, the unvaccinated are doing brilliantly.