Australia

They would either a) lie and say it anyway or b) find something else to bitch about. The conservatives oppose the voice and no amount of reason or evidence will stop them from finding an issue or making one up.

Yeah, Labor's strategy and messaging has been pretty bad. Though it's always going to be difficult when your opponents are allowed to repeatedly and blatantly lie, even in official communication, without any consequences.

Those details can't be locked into the constitution - if they were we'd need a fresh referendum every time a minor detail needs to be changed.

Publicised details that haven't been worked out yet would allow the fear campaign to focus on Labor proposing changes to the constitution that don't line up with what they've said, which would be a disaster for the Yes vote. I think Labor knows what they're doing. Winning the referendum was never going to be a sure thing.

Also - if the referendum doesn't pass it will tarnish the LNP. Younger Australians, a demographic where 85% of people are in favour of The Voice, will stop thinking of LNP as "conservative" and instead think of them as "racist". The LNP might never recover from that. The cynic in me wonders of Labor deliberately brought this referendum upon us a little too early. If it fails, they can just repeat it in a few years when there will be more support (if only because a higher percentage of voters will from the generation of Aussies that clearly support The Voice)

I would like to think the intent of the referendum is to show the majority of Australia wants to listen to what Indigenous Australians have to say on matters that concerns them. Flexibility in how that happens is key. By enshrining the voice in our constitution we are saying, "I'll listen even if I don't like what is said because it's important." With enough leeway that governments can change how they listen but not silence the voice altogether.

I'd be happy for additional referendums focused on the specifics but I'd also be fine with the elected government choosing what the voice of the day looks like.

Nothing will change overnight and I agree with the sentiment that we can make things better without a voice.

That said, if someone is hurting, you ask them how you can help. So it makes perfect sense to me to listen to what 250 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Leaders have asked for and put the voice in the constitution.

The guardian is a left leaning media source. While I don’t disagree with their fact checks and am in favour of the voice, having both fact checks come from a source that is in favour of YES is not necessarily offering parity of discussion. The abc also fact checked.

This whole thing started in 2015 as a joint effort between the Liberal and Labor government to investigate "Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples".

They appointed 16 people who spent two years meeting thousands of indigenous people from all over Australia to discuss the issue. The indigenous nations were inspired by that and got together separately, sending 250 of their delegates (mostly Elders) to Uluru where they had a four day meeting and produced the Uluru Statement from the Heart which includes these two lines:

We call for the establishment of a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution.

In 1967 we were counted, in 2017 we seek to be heard.

A couple months later, the advisory body created by the Liberal and Labor government produced their final report:

[We recommend] that a referendum be held to provide in the Australian Constitution for a representative body that gives Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander First Nations a Voice to the Commonwealth Parliament.

Even though it was a joint effort between the Liberal and Labor parties, the Liberal party was in power and ignored it. They did nothing at all. For years, they did nothing.

As soon as the Labor party won an election they acted, and here we are, about to vote on a referendum that was called for by representatives of both indigenous Australia and by Australian politicians (both left and right wing politicians).

As for "is it any good for Aboriginals"... well, why not ask them? We have asked them, and they loudly and clearly said they want this. There might be a few individuals in the indigenous community who disagree but the overwhelming majority asked for The Voice, so clearly they think it's a good idea.

I don't think you will get a good answer here, you need to decide that for yourself