If you thought the Voice was bad, just wait until the next election

Social media posts during the referendum, echoing or amplifying No Campaign material, offer a glimpse into the future. Chinese Australians were told via WeChat messages from multiple senders – among many other things including that a future referendum could see them expelled from the country – that the Voice would promote segregation and division, and that it would provide Indigenous kids with free places at private schools, meaning Chinese Australian children would either be unable to get in or their fees would skyrocket.

WhatsApp messages circulating in Muslim communities warned that if the Voice succeeded, their relatives would no longer be able to come to Australia.

Dutton has shown a predilection for inflammatory language. He did it on the Voice, and he has done it on the Middle East despite a rare and obvious caution from the head of ASIO, Mike Burgess, to cool it.

Dutton flagged his intention to use immigration most clearly in his Budget reply speech in May where he said net overseas migration of 1.5 million over five years would worsen cost of living and inflation.

It is the issue most ripe for exploitation because it can feed into every grievance and every prejudice including from migrants. Houses too expensive? Roads too congested? Can’t find a job or get a hospital bed? Whatever ails you, blame immigration. And, of course, Albanese.

Clare O’Neil has made preemptive strikes to undermine Dutton’s standing on border security and immigration. She came out swinging immediately after the report by Christine Nixon which accused the Coalition of concentrating on stopping people coming illegally to Australia through the back door in boats, when they were flying in through the front door “in their millions”.

O’Neil has hit Dutton where it hurts by claiming he had cut funding for compliance, allowing criminal syndicates to exploit weaknesses. Her message then and subsequently in parliament was that Dutton acts tough, but he is incompetent. Dutton swung back, calling her angry and aggressive. O’Neil’s male colleagues, knowing just how tough she is, cheered her on. One cabinet minister who has watched Dutton closely, observed that he appeared to have difficulty dealing with assertive women.

O’Neil is working on a package to stamp out rorts and significantly reduce the net numbers while she keeps punching at Dutton’s credibility.

Maybe Dutton will pause and think better of it. He should. An election campaign on immigration would only cut or fray more of the threads which bind us together. It would be another tragedy for Australia.

Before then, and quickly, journalists and media outlets including the ABC, need to review their coverage, as the ABC’s most senior political journalist Laura Tingle rightly suggested at the weekend.

Balance cannot be measured by counting down to the last second how much air time or column inches each side gets. Too often that comes at the expense of truth. It is also not the job of journalists to publish lies. Nor is it OK to allow one side to make an outrageous claim, then put it to the other side to rebut, then count that as balance. That distorts and helps destroy civil debate.

Balance also is not achieved by refusing to broadcast a Yes event – for instance – as frequently happened because the No’s were a no show. That is not covering the news. That skews the news because it deprives one side of the opportunity to put its case while providing cover for the other.

Niki Savva is a regular columnist.

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