A deleted Vote Yes sign is seen in Bassendean in Perth on Saturday (Source: AAP Image/Richard Wainwright)

The failure of the 2023 referendum, which aimed to enshrine Indigenous voices in parliament in the constitution, has been blamed on disinformation, racism and political misbehavior. ‘Yes’ campaigners say.

Constitutional lawyer Shireen Morris said there are several different situations “threads” to‘Yes’ Campaign leading up to the referendum on October 14, 2023.

These titles were Yes23, directed by Dean Parkin; Uluru Dialogue led by Professor Megan Davis; Uphold and Recognise, founded by liberal politician Julian Leeser; and the Liberals are for Yes, he said.

Things started to change when the federal Labor Party came to power, Dr Morris told a forum titled “Reflections on referendum for Indigenous voice in parliament” organized by LaTrobe University.

“The biggest issue that emerged on the ‘Yes’ side was the rift that emerged between Indigenous leaders and Support and Recognition.” he said.

“When Albanese announced he was going to have a referendum, suddenly it was framed as Albanese’s voice, and suddenly constitutional conservatives and Support and Recognition started behaving very differently.”

Dr Morris said politicians’ “bad behavior” began long before Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced Labor would hold a referendum.

“(Then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull) actually started the bad behavior and called it the third chamber,” he said.

“That was the moment when Labor suddenly became more interested. “Turnbull rejected it and suddenly Labor people said, ‘If the Liberals rejected it, that must be a good thing.'”

Thomas Mayo, a leading proponent of the ‘Yes’ campaign, said campaigners had faced disinformation and racism which had deterred people from joining the cause.

“Anyone who looks up, especially if you’re Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, you’ll get through this backlog,” he said.

“It was an intimidation tactic, I think it was designed to make people go silent because it was too much.”

While some ‘yes’ campaigners said the referendum should be postponed after it became clear it was unlikely to win public support, Mr Mayo said he had no regrets about his decision to go ahead.

“If we had delayed, we could have learned this lesson later, one side would always benefit from it,” he said.

“Now that we know that, I think it’s a lesson that will serve us well in the future.”

Dr Morris said he had some regrets looking back because the outcome was so damaging to Indigenous issues.

“I don’t know in my mind why, after doing this for over a decade, the whole strategy is based on the need for bipartisanship,” he said.