Stark photos from a quiet street in suburban Brisbane show the sharp divide in Australia between Yes and No voters on the approaching referendum for a Voice to Parliament.
David and Belinda Goodwin, fervent No supporters and members of the local LNP, decked out the porch of their house with a banner arguing for a No vote in the October 14 decision, which would embed a permanent Indigenous-led advisory body into the Constitution.
But their neighbours quickly hit back at the “No house”, painting their own house black with an Aboriginal flag and fixing Yes slogans to their windows.
“This has brought a lot of discussion,” Ms Goodwin told Nine’s A Current Affair last week.
“I’ve had a lot of letters in the letterbox, people calling out, I’ve got a sticker on my car so people will stop and talk.”
The Goodwins are a religious family with nine children and Mr Goodwin is a businessman.
Their neighbours were vegans from Melbourne, Mr Goodwin said.
“We’ve got an Australian flag, they’ve got an Aboriginal flag. They’re vegans from Melbourne, we’re a bunch of Catholics with a massive family from Queensland, so I suppose you couldn’t get more contrasting views,” he said.
The couple in the “Yes house” have not spoken with media and later released a statement via the official Yes23 campaign.
“We acknowledge that change is long overdue and simply wanted to show that our full support is behind the local mob in Wynnum and all First Nations people,” the statement said.
“We are happy for their voices to be the ones that are heard.”
Yes23 campaign director Dean Parkin praised the Yes house as a “great boost” for Yes volunteers working to bring about constitutional change.
The Goodwins said they were happy with the dramatic contrast on display in their street.
“I quite like it actually,” Mr Goodwin said.
“At the end of the day, I think that’s what’s good about Australia. We’ve got our view, they’ve got theirs and you want to live in a country where people can express themselves and have free speech.”
The Goodwins said relations were stable between the neighbours, but tensions are rising in the referendum campaign as the October 14 date moves closer.
On Monday, emotions flared during the No campaign’s launch in South Australia, with rowdy protesters branding No supporters “wankers” and “racist” as they walked into the Adelaide Convention Centre to hear senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price speak.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Peter Dutton both condemned the vicious rhetoric and called for respectful debate in the Voice campaign.