Footage emerges of Yes campaigner saying No voters are 'spewing racism'
Marcia Langton argued her remarks were misrepresented by media, denying she called No voters racist, but now new footage reveals what she really thinks about 'hard No' voters.
Prominent ‘Yes’ campaigner Marcia Langton has accused the Australian media of racism while, at the same time, threatened legal action against Peter Dutton over an Instagram post.
The Opposition leader posted a photo of Langton under a headline in The Australian newspaper that said: “No voters branded ‘racist, stupid’ by prominent Voice campaigner Marcia Langton”.
Langton told ABC radio she had instructed a lawyer to contact Dutton and have the post deleted.
She claimed The Australian newspaper took comments she made at a public meeting in Western Australia out of context.
However new footage has emerged, broadcasted by Sky News Australia, revealing Langton on film saying that "hard No voters" of the Voice to Parliament are "spewing racism" at a University of Queensland event in July.
“Then there is hard No voters and I am hoping they are about 20 per cent and they are the ones spewing racism,” she is heard saying.
She told people in Bunbury on Sunday that the No campaign was based on racism and stupidity.
An audio recording embedded in The Australian article online shows that Langton told the crowd:
“Every time the No case raises one of their arguments, if you start pulling it apart you get down to base racism – I’m sorry to say it but that’s where it lands – or just sheer stupidity.”
The Australian newspaper reported the comments under the headline “Langton Brands No Voters Racist and Stupid”.
But Langton told ABC radio’s Patricia Karvelas that her comments referred to the tactics of the No campaign itself rather than to people who might vote no.
“I don’t believe that most Australians are racist and I’m certainly not a racist,” she told the ABC.
“But what I was say is that the claims made by the ‘No’ campaign are based in racism and stupidity. That’s a completely different kind of statement altogether.”
Langton said told Karvelas the No campaign was based on racism “because they’ve got nothing else”.
But she also said:
“I have great regard for the right to vote. I think it’s very precious. I certainly was not calling ‘No’ voters racist.”
Langton then told Karvelas that the article in The Australian “reminds me very much of the kind of racism that we’re getting from the media”.
She said that the Australian Financial Review had apologised for a cartoon depicting Thomas Mayo “in a classical Jim Crow depiction of black people”.
“I have not received an apology from The Australian. I will talk to a lawyer about that,” she said.
Langton accused the No campaign of importing tactics from overseas – like automated phone calls – that “undermine our democracy”.
“It will take a long time for Australians to recover from the viciousness of this campaign,” she said.
Don't Get Censored
Big Tech is censoring us. Sign up so we can always stay in touch.
Don't Get Censored
Big Tech is censoring us. Sign up so we can always stay in touch.