Australia Indigenous referendum heads towards resounding defeat

Support for a referendum to constitutionally recognise Australia's Indigenous people slipped further, with the landmark proposal set to fail in a national vote roughly three weeks away, two opinion polls showed.

Support for the "Voice to Parliament", an Indigenous committee to advise parliament on matters affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people, fell to 33 percent, down 15 points since May, the Australian Financial Review (AFR)/Freshwater poll showed on Monday.

The 'No' vote had reached 50 percent.

Despite the Anthony Albanese-led Labour government's campaign drive to win undecided voters, opposition to the referendum rose three points to 56 percent, a Newspoll conducted for The Australian newspaper showed. Support dipped to 36 percent from 38 percent in the previous poll on Sept. 3.

Altering the constitution requires a national referendum in Australia and only eight have passed since 1901 when the country was formed. The proposal must get a majority of votes nationwide and at least four of the six states must back the change.

Australia, which will hold the referendum vote on Oct. 14, has no treaty with its Indigenous people, who make up about 3.2 percent of its 26 million population. They were marginalised by British colonial rulers and are not mentioned in the 122-year-old constitution.

Divided opinions

The referendum debate has divided opinions with supporters arguing the Voice will bring progress for the Aboriginal community, while opponents say it would be divisive. Others have described it as tokenism and toothless.

Voters who had switched their stance to reject the proposal in the past five months said the Voice was creating a distraction from their top two issues - the cost of living and the cost of housing, the AFR survey said.

It also showed the approval ratings for Albanese, who has staked significant political capital on the referendum, fell 5 points to 46 percent.

In the Newspoll survey, Albanese's ratings improved slightly to 47 percent though that remained at historically low levels, while on a two-party preferred basis, Labor enjoyed a 54-46 percent lead against the conservative opposition coalition.