“The opportunity of the Voice referendum revealed Australians’ poor understanding of the Constitution, and the level of racism in the community,” Uluru Dialogue Co-Chair Professor Megan Davis has written in the December-January edition of The Monthly publication.

“Weeks prior to the Voice referendum, journalists began seeking input for their post-referendum obituaries,” Professor Davis writes in her article titled Truth After The Voice. “When I politely declined, wanting to wait for the nation to vote, I was told by one tabloid journalist that I should reconsider because, by the Monday after, ‘the caravan would have moved on’. Lordy. After 12 years of a formal recognition process in Australia, the caravan was poised to leave.

“The mass exoneration of the nation for the defeat of recognition in the Australian Constitution began in earnest on referendum night. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declared in his address to the nation that the blunt and unequivocal ‘No’ vote was a vote for change. He remarked that it was not a vote for the status quo and implored, ‘Let us hold on to that truth.’”