“Stan Grant’s protest about his desperate ordeal in the face of social media threats and insults was sad to watch… but when you choose a working life on public television there are well worn ways of coping,” says “The Gadfly” columnist ROBERT MACKLIN. 

IT’S time for the prime minister to intervene. Otherwise, he risks the collapse of the “Yes” case for the referendum on the Voice. And he doesn’t have a moment to lose.

Ironically, the threat comes not from the “No” side, but two of the most prominent Aboriginal supporters for the Voice on his own team. 

Trouble is, they are not team players. The two rapscallions are, of course, Noel Pearson and Stan Grant, who are so wrapped up in their own personas they can’t see the damage they are doing to the cause.

I have no doubt that Albo can. He’s been around the political traps long enough to understand just how vulnerable a referendum can be when one side splits on what first appears to be a mere technicality. 

He watched in horror as John Howard and his atavists chuckled in their beards as the republicans ripped into each other over the manner of choosing an Australian head of state to replace the British monarchy.

He would be even more horrified if his promise to pursue a constitutional amendment to accept the invitation contained in the “Uluru Statement from the Heart” were to suffer the same fate. It was, after all, the first promise he made on that night of electoral triumph over the Morrison ministry to begin the rebuilding of an Australia fit for purpose in the 21st century.

Indeed, it goes to the heart of our self-perception as a nation embracing the great southern land bequeathed to us by the First Nations people whose love of country is so desperately needed if we’re to survive and prosper in a world where man-made climate change threatens our very existence.  

So when Noel Pearson insulted the Aboriginal former human rights commissioner Mick Gooda as “foolish” and worse, “a bedwetter” for suggesting the removal of a few unnecessary words from the referendum question, the “No” folk saw their chance. The words, “and the Executive Government” are not just unnecessary since it’s the parliament not the referendum that will decide the powers of the Voice. Yet the “No” side has raised it as a scary complication, and the great undecided centre right will split.

But perhaps that’s not the point. Gooda might be right or wrong, but it’s the ferocity of Pearson’s vicious response that elevated the suggestion to an excuse for the undecided to take the “safe” option and vote “no”. 

Stan Grant’s protest about his desperate ordeal in the face of social media threats and insults was sad to watch. His complaint that his suffering of racial mockery and vile verbal attacks “is in the air I breathe”, is shocking. But when you choose a working life on public television there are well worn ways of coping. Engagement with social media is not compulsory. It’s not even productive.

Of course, that’s easy enough for a privileged whitefella like myself to say. But there is a bigger picture, Stan, and it’s designed to make life very much easier for the Aboriginal folk who will follow you. 

That’s the message, surely, that Albo has to get across to these two fine and talented blokes. Maybe it’s the first time since his election that the PM finds himself confronted by a really difficult personal challenge. But that, Mr Albanese, is what real prime ministers do. 

The globe-trotting and the great social reforms are the good stuff that comes with The Lodge. But this is also what you signed up for; and the result will define the rest of your political life.

robert@robertmacklin.com