Storytelling in the Australian 2023 voice referendum campaign

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Personal stories are a strategic tool often used by advocacy movements to pursue claims for equality. In the 2023 Voice referendum campaign in Australia, personal storytelling was used by the conservative No campaign to argue against the constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Through narrative analysis of the Yes and No campaigns, we highlight two storytelling dynamics. First, the autobiographical hero narrative, fused with the Australian ‘fair go’, to de-historicise inequality and de-emphasise experiences of colonisation and systemic racism. Second, personal storytelling’s strength in emphasising shared identity between storytellers and the public helped the No campaign’s defence of the status quo and their claims that constitutional recognition would be divisive. These narratives set the agenda for the campaign, making it difficult for the Yes campaign’s use of community strengths-based stories to convince the public that recognition of difference was key to achieving greater equality.