The ABC is supposedly funded by the tax dollars of all Australians, but you probably wouldn’t be able to tell based on their recent New Year’s Eve Sydney fireworks display. It was more of an exercise in propaganda. I think they were probably expecting the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum to win, which it didn’t, but they went ahead with the program all the same. Here’s how the hosts introduced the evening: “I’m Zan Rowe, and I’m Charlie Pickering. We are thrilled to be coming to you live from Gadigal land for the New Year’s Eve celebrations, and evening of incredible music from some of the nation’s biggest artists.” So despite standing in front of the Sydney Harbour Bridge which spans Sydney Harbour in the city of Sydney, the biggest city in Australia, they never once mentioned the word Sydney in their introduction. It’s Gadigal land, don’t you know? Of course, there was the obligatory Welcome to Country that we all love: “And to kick things off, our Welcome to Country performed by Aunty Joan Bell and Pequita Bell. We honour our elders and leaders including Barangaroo, Pemulwuy, and many others who fought the first boat people who landed in Sydney Cove. Welcome to Gadigal Eora country. Welcome to my country. Welcome.” Welcome to MY country, not your country. In it, they honoured the warriors who slaughtered those evil first boat people that many of us are descended from. Not divisive at all! At least she used the word Sydney. Don’t worry, the division continues! “And I’m joined right now by Triple J’s Nooky, one of the curators of what you’re about to see.” He chose to wear a giant QR code on his shirt. After the Indigenous Voice defeat, Nooky famously said these words live on Triple J: “We ain’t licking our wounds today. We’re sharpening our spears!”. We’re sharpening our spears. It’s all very war-like with Nooky. It’s probably no surprise that his organisation is called waw, W-A-W, We Are Warriors. Just out of interest, here’s Warrior Number 5, Felicia Foxx. She’ll kill you with her Mascara. “Well I’m Felicia Foxx, I’m an extravagant, strong, black woman who don’t take s*** from no-one.” Anyway, back to Nooky’s tolerant and unifying language, “I started to showcase blak excellence and create pathways for our youth and just elevate stories of blak power and blak success and blak love.” You know, all the stuff that brings us together as a nation, blak success, blak love, blak power. Then an Indigenous band called “3%” played a rather divisive song – 3% referring to the percentage of Australians who identify as Aboriginal. Here’s some of the lyrics: “They locked us up and then they threw away the key, It’s the stolen generations hauntin’ trauma that I see, They stole the land in the name of their kings, Now look at how they act when you mention Alice Springs, I see my people always locked up, locked up, locked up, locked up, Why my people always locked up, locked up, locked up, locked up? Free my people always locked up, locked up, locked up, locked up, Here my people always locked up, locked up, locked up, locked up!” Anyway, you get the idea. Noting that this song was put on just before the family fireworks at 9pm. So lots of kids would have been watching all of this. After the song finished, they proceeded to blow up the Harbour Bridge, well, not really, but they plastered it with messages such as ‘Warriors’, ‘Rise’, ‘We Are Sea’, ‘Be Strong’, and so on. It wasn’t just about Indigenous people. Melbourne singer Angie McMahon had some words to say about the Israel-Palestine conflict. Just before her last song, she said: “Thanks again. Palestinians should be free.” Prominent anti-Voice campaigner Warren Mundine commented on the politicisation of the ABC’s New Year’s Eve entertainment labelling it ‘disgraceful’. He said, “We just want to have a relaxed start to the year and have fun. New Year’s Eve is an incredible landmark occasion for Sydney, and the world, in fact. It’s telecast all over the world, and I think people are getting sick and tired of the politicisation of things. We’re sick and tired of the politicisation of everything.” It’s not the first time the ABC have been accused of sapping the fun out of New Year’s Eve. In 2022, they had rap duo Barkaa and Dobby who performed their song I Can't Breathe while wearing Black Lives Matter t-shirts. They also had Blak Douglas as curator of the Welcome to Country fireworks theme who said, “We are taking over one of the most famous icons on the planet [the Sydney Harbour Bridge], an icon that was never consulted amongst either the Gadigal or Cammeray people.” So yes, the ABC have again spoilt New Year’s Eve by making it all about blame and victimhood. Thankfully, I turned it off straight after Charlie Pickering failed to mention the word Sydney during his introduction. MUSIC Allégro by Emmit Fenn ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EhntC1JpYg

“Tick means Yes! Crosses are ignored!” – “That sounds kind of dodgy…” – “TOO RIGHT!”. Australians will be voting in a referendum in a couple of months time to determine whether there’ll be an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. According to the Prime Minister, if you’re a good person, you’ll vote Yes. The No vote has no chance, right? Well just in case, they’ve made it a bit easier for you to vote Yes. Here’s a sample ballot paper from the Australian Electoral Commission. (Link below – It even lets you practise online – just in case you can’t write Yes or No). “DIRECTIONS TO VOTER: Write "YES" or "NO" in the space provided opposite the question set out below. Do you approve this proposed alteration? Write "YES" or "NO"”. It couldn’t be clearer, right? You either write Yes, or No. But obviously, the Prime Minister would prefer that you write Yes, right? I mean, it’s right there on his shirt! But just in case you don’t write Yes and do something a little bit strange, never fear! You’ll still get a chance for your Yes vote to count! In a recent interview, Australian Electoral Commissioner Tom Rogers was asked whether scrutineers would accept other types of marks inside the box. He replied, “Make sure you write on that box ‘yes’ or ‘no’ in English. Now there are some savings provisions, but I need to be very clear with people – when we look at that, it is likely that a tick will be accepted as a formal vote for yes, but a cross will not be accepted as a formal vote.” So it sounds like that if you put a tick in the box, it will count as a Yes vote, but if you put a cross in there, your vote just won’t count at all. Does anybody else think that sounds dodgy? It seems like they’re giving one side an advantage. Look, I doubt many people would be going in there ticking and crossing the box instead of writing Yes or No, but there certainly might be some, and to think that only one side of the vote will count in that situation. Mr Rogers continued, “We’re being very clear with people, part of our education campaign will talk about this, the materials in the polling place so people can look at it. But please, make sure you write ‘yes’ or ‘no’ clearly on the ballot paper in English. That way you can assure yourself that your vote will count.” When pressed about the tick/cross controversy, he replied, “The no side might say, well hang on, it’s a lower bar for the yes side. No not at all. That’s why we’re spending a lot of time talking to the community about what constitutes a valid vote. When the voter’s intention is clear, those votes are included.” When asked whether a Y or N would count, Mr Rogers responded, “Again the legislation says ‘yes’ or ‘no’ is a formal vote. There are some things called savings provisions and given the fact we’re trying to give effect to the voter’s intent, it is likely that a ‘y’ or an ‘n’ would be counted under the savings provisions. But I get nervous even talking about that because then people hear mixed messages. It’s just important to write either ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on that ballot paper.” When asked if any other symbols will count, he said, “A thumbs up?? symbol will count as a ‘yes’ vote, but a thumbs down?? will not count as a ‘no’ vote. Similarly, a smiley face? will count as a ‘yes’ vote, but a frowning face? will not count as a formal vote. Actually, the following symbols will all count as ‘yes’ votes: lips?, balloon?, Christmas tree?, rainbow?, men holding hands?, and bunny rabbit?, but everything else will not count as a formal vote.” According to the AEC’s official Referendum 2023 website, Completing the ballot paper, Yes and No are the only formal ways to vote, however, they do have a question further down, “Can you use a tick or cross to vote in a referendum?”. “Please don’t. Clearly write yes or no, in full, in English. We expect the vast, vast majority of voters to follow those instructions. The formality rules for referendums has been the same for a long period of time – this includes ‘savings provisions’ (the ability to count a vote where the instructions have not been followed but the voter’s intention is clear). Since 1988 the AEC has followed legal advice regarding the application of savings provisions to ‘ticks’ and ‘crosses’ on referendum ballot papers. This is not new.” Anyway, I think you get the idea. Tick means Yes! Crosses are ignored! That sounds kind of dodgy… TOO RIGHT! REFERENDUM 2023: COMPLETING THE BALLOT PAPER https://www.aec.gov.au/referendums/vote/completing-the-ballot-paper.html ‘SOUNDS DODGY’ – VOICE VOTERS CONFUSED BY TICKS AND CROSSES https://www.2gb.com/sounds-dodgy-voice-voters-confused-by-ticks-and-crosses/ ‘TICK WILL BE ACCEPTED, CROSS WILL NOT’: AEC BOSS SLAMMED FOR CONFUSING VOICE REFERENDUM RULE https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/leaders/tick-will-be-accepted-cross-will-not-aec-boss-slammed-for-confusing-voice-referendum-rule/news-story/b8c6e57e6c7d4e9564ce32d183460bb2 MUSIC Allégro by Emmit Fenn ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpFXUdNJJN8