KEY POINTS:
- Questions have been raised about the impact of a No vote on Australia's standing in the Pacific.
- A key Pacific leader has said the Voice could "elevate" Australia's position and credibility internationally.
- A Vanuatu MP says the idea of a No vote "fills us with dread".
A key Pacific leader says it would be "wonderful to see" Australians back an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, which would "elevate Australia's position and maybe even credibility" on the international stage.
But Secretary-General of the Pacific Islands Forum Henry Puna accepts the outcome of the referendum is a "democratic choice" for Australians, saying the region will "wait and see" what they decide on 14 October.
Puna's statement comes after an expert warned unfriendly foreign powers could seize on a No vote in the Voice referendum, to paint Australia as a "white, racist" former colonial power to its Pacific neighbours.
Speaking at a press conference in Fiji on Wednesday, Puna backed a Yes vote but accepted the Pacific had "no right to interfere" in Australia's domestic affairs.
"And yet it would be wonderful to see Australia vote Yes, because it would elevate Australia's position, and maybe even credibility, in the international stage," he said.
"But it's a democratic choice that has to be made by Australian citizens, and we respect that all the way. So, we have to wait and see what the Australian people come up with on the referendum."
Labor has made improving relations with the Pacific a major foreign policy priority. Source: AAP / Samuel Rillstone
No vote looms as impediment to Pacific reset
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has made tightening Australia's relationship with the Pacific, which , a priority for Labor's foreign policy.
Australians will vote in the nation's first referendum in a generation on 14 October, to decide whether to enshrine the Voice - a body advising the parliament on issues particularly impacting Indigenous people - in the constitution.
Last month, a host of former Pacific leaders and diplomats urged Australians to "find it in their conscience to support" the Voice, which they described as an opportunity to "redress the injustices faced by First Nations of Australia".
Penny Wong has made strengthening ties in the Pacific a major priority. Source: AAP / Ben McKay
"It is almost inconceivable to us that this may not happen, but that possibility fills us with dread. A no vote will be a blow to our relationship, especially perceptions of Aust[ralia] in our general public," he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Wong has specifically linked acknowledging Australia's colonial history with its ability to influence the Indo-Pacific, which she has described as the "".
But the looming prospect of a No victory, which polls project is likely, has raised questions about how Australia would be perceived in its region.
No vote would reflect poorly on a Dutton government: expert
In May 2022, Puna told Wong, on her first trip as foreign minister, that the Pacific’s "respect for culture and Indigenous identity … is what sets us apart from the rest of the world".
"I was particularly heartened by your vision and commitment to integrate the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and weave the voices and practices of Australia’s Indigenous people, into your diplomacy moving forward," he said.
Graeme Smith, senior fellow at the ANU’s Department of Pacific Affairs, described a negative impact of a No vote on Australia’s standing in the region as "self-evident".
Smith said it would feed a "broader long-term narrative" about Australia as a former colonial power, and be added to issues such as ‘blackbirding’ - the coercion or kidnapping of Pacific Islanders as slaves or poorly-paid labourers in the 1800s - for which Australia has never formally apologised.
"This narrative can be weaponised by certain unfriendly, foreign powers … A No vote would add another data point to say: 'White, racist country that doesn't belong in the Pacific'," he said.
Rejecting the Voice would also make the government’s emphasis on Indigenous voices in foreign policy "awkward", Smith said.
Anthony Albanese, pictured in Fiji last year, is pushing for a Yes vote on 14 October. Source: AAP / Ben McKay
"If there is a future Dutton government, [a No vote] will make things a hell of a lot more awkward for them in the Pacific. I don't think this is something that figures in [the Coalition’s] calculations [on the Voice]," he said.
"It reflects obviously worse on the Opposition than it does on the government. But in a broader sense, the distinction won't be made … [The perception would be:] political parties come and go, but you as a nation have voted against this."
Meg Keen, director of the Lowy Institute's Pacific Islands Program, said most current Pacific leaders had not expressed strong views on the Voice, which they saw as a domestic issue.
"A Yes vote would be welcome in the region, but if this does not occur the efforts of the Albanese government would be respected. A No vote would be disappointing for many, but not disastrous to Australia-Pacific Islands relations, which are multi-faceted and have weathered worse setbacks," she said.
Those efforts included Wong appointing Justin Mohamed as Australia's first-ever ambassador for First Nations people in March, a role which specifically involves "enhancing Australia's engagement in the Indo-Pacific region".
"Elevating the perspectives of First Nations people, this land’s first diplomats, enables deeper engagement with many of our closest partners including the Pacific family," Wong said in a statement announcing the appointment.
Penny Wong hesitant to discuss impact of No vote on Australia's reputation
Speaking to SBS News last month, the foreign minister said Australians were being given a choice about "whether or not we listen" to Indigenous people.
But she was reluctant to be drawn on whether Australia would be perceived as bigoted or racist if the Voice failed.
"I think that people from around the world understand that this is something we are working through, just as we have over many years, from the 1967 referendum, Native Title, the Apology and where we are today," she said.
"We've seen a continued progress in Australia towards greater equality and greater understanding of one another. That's a good thing."
Yes campaigner Noel Pearson described the Voice as a chance to make colonisation "" this week.
And in February, Wong called for Britain and as a way of building bridges to the Indo-Pacific.
"If we recognise our history, and we recognise how we have changed, we find more common ground, and we deal with some of the ways in which others seek to constrain us,” she told Senate estimates.
"In the context of AUKUS and the Quad, that is about Australian influence and power in the region."
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