Prominent Aboriginal leader and Yes campaigner Marcia Langton has denied calling No voters “racist and stupid” insisting she was simply attacking the No campaign tactics.
An exasperated Professor Langton made the controversial remarks at a forum in Bunbury, Western Australia which was recorded and posted on Facebook.
Her comments were splashed on the front page of The Bunbury Herald, with the heading “RACIST OR JUST STUPID: Voice author slams the No Campaign”.
“Every time the No cases raise their arguments, if you start pulling it apart you get down to base racism – I‘m sorry to say that’s where it lands – or sheer stupidity,” Prof Langton said.
“If you look at any reputable fact-checker, every one of them says the No case is substantially false. They are lying to you.”
The comments were quickly picked up by multiple media outlets with some suggesting she was attacking No voters as stupid and racist.
Ms Langton said that was not the case and indicated she was seeking legal advice as opponents of the Voice seized on the remarks as a campaign turning point.
Prof Langton appeared on stage with Labor state MP Don Punch who posted the discussion on Facebook. But last night the video was pulled down.
She told The Sydney Morning Herald her remarks were being twisted.
“I’m saying the claims being made by the No case are based in racism and stupidity – and appeal to racism and stupidity,” Prof Langton said.
“And they are appealing to Australians to frighten them into adopting highly racist and stupid beliefs.
“They’re frightening you with a claim that is blatantly not true and is based in racism and stupidity.
“The media reporting is a very deliberate tactic to make me look like a racist when I’m not. I am not a racist, and I don’t believe that the majority of Australians are racist.”
“I do believe that the No campaigners are using racist tactics.”
Prominent journalists including the ABCs Q&A host Patricia Karvelas took to Twitter to insist that “journalists have a responsibility to accurately reflect what people say.”
The Sydney Morning Herald’s David Crowe posted that he had “listened to the audio of Marcia Langton and she does not call voters racist of stupid.”
But The Australian’s Dennis Shanahan suggested it could be a campaign turning point.
“Will Marcia Langton’s dismissal of the referendum No case as either “base racism or sheer stupidity” be the Indigenous voice’s campaign death knell as was Hillary Clinton’s dismissal of Donald Trump’s supporters as a “basket of deplorables” in her US Presidential election campaign?,‘’ he said.
“Will it be seen as Mark Latham’s aggressive handshake of a much older John Howard during the dying days of the 2004 election campaign?
“It is too early judge, just as the full extent of Clinton’s gaffe was not recognised until later, but, as the Yes campaign for the Indigenous Voice to Parliament flounders, loses momentum and is given up for being lost there cannot have been a worse intervention.”
Deputy Liberal Leader Sussan Ley said the comments was a “deplorables” moment.
“We saw Marcia Langton label those advocating a No position as either ‘racist’ or ‘stupid’,‘’ she said.
“Now this, Deputy Speaker, is a window into the psyche of the Yes campaign and it‘s a window into the psyche of a modern Labor Party. They refuse to accept that everyday Australians do not like what they see when it comes to the Voice.
“This is the Yes campaign’s ‘deplorables’ moment and it‘s really disappointing because we want a fair and honest debate.”