> they were trying to win some mindshare by doing something progressive sounding, but they had no real intention of following through to make tangible changes

> they were trying to win some mindshare by doing something progressive sounding, but they had no real intention of following through to make tangible changes That’s the malice you are assuming. And the idea that the voice is no tangible change when it was decried by the previous government as too radical beggars belief. The voice was to be the body to create the basis for negotiations for a treaty between the Commonwealth and the First Nations of Australia. The campaigners aren’t stupid. They aren’t lazy. Sometimes we disagree with people. Sometimes people are wrong. Success has papered over a thousand would be defeats. The best-laid schemes of mice and men, go oft awry, and leave us nothing but grief and pain, for promised joy. The idea that the yes campaign and the government weren’t seriously committed to getting this across the line is laughable. They were simply wrong about the assumptions they were working under. Assumptions that are commonly held in Australia. The referendum was the culmination of a process that began in 2015 when Turnbull was Prime Minister. That’s 3 Federal Elections (and prime ministers) ago. It has been through councils, reports, a convention. They didn’t run the campaign you think they should have. They didn’t run the campaign I think they should have. That doesn’t mean it was a mess of lazy idiots making the wrong decision at every turn.