Voice advocates warn against harmful ‘humour’

Prominent voice advocates are calling on ‘No’ campaign leaders to call out negative racial stereotypes after a comedian’s mocking performance at a conference.

It comes as Australia’s human rights watchdog moves to minimise harm in the lead-up to the referendum later this year on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.

Rodney Marks, who describes himself as a comedian and comic impostor, delivered a speech as a fictional United Nations diplomat at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Sydney on the weekend.

According to The Guardian Australia, his alter ego told the audience he wanted to “acknowledge the traditional rent-seekers” and “acknowledge the traditional owners – violent black men”.

Uluru Dialogue co-chairs Megan Davis and Pat Anderson said it was never funny to mock or vilify a group of people on the basis of their culture.

“Today, our young people around the country will be seeing supposed jokes on their social media feeds portraying Indigenous Australians as ‘rent-seekers’, ‘violent’ and ‘woman bashers’,” they said in a statement.

“The fact that leaders of the ‘No’ campaign and the keynote speakers at the CPAC conference, including (Warren) Mundine, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and (ex-prime minister)Tony Abbott, turn a blind eye to it, is tragic, particularly for our young people.”

Neither Mr Mundine, who chairs CPAC, nor CPAC responded to a request for comment.

Mr Marks told AAP he believed violence against women was a social issue and he took “biting shots” at everyone at the conference, including Mr Abbott, organisers and the audience.

The Australian Human Rights Commission on Monday called on people to avoid negative stereotypes and hurtful language. 

“Too often, Indigenous peoples are the subject of national debates that cause direct and indirect harm,” the rights commission said.

“In a democracy, it’s important that people can express their opinions on key issues, especially those of great national importance.

“However, it is crucial that these conversations are approached in a way that is factual, is not based on racial stereotypes, does not involve racially denigrating language, and does not cause harm to Indigenous peoples.”

-AAP