Boxer Anthony Mundine has blasted Thomas Mayo, the face of the Yes campaign, declaring he wants to “beat him up real good” in what has been described as an “appalling” video.
Mr Mundine launched the blistering attack on Tik Tok, accusing the prominent Yes campaigner of not having “traditional bloodline to this country”.
He said there were “consequences” for breaking “tribal lines” and called for “men to stand up”.
“I want to challenge him into the ring, let’s go, we can get it on,” he continued.
Mr Mundine described himself as a “fighter, ex-fighter” and Mr Mayo a “combat man”.
“I want to beat him up real good because he needs to be taught a lesson, don’t break our laws,” he blustered.
Mr Mayo has been the public face of the Yes campaign for the Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
A best-selling author and trade unionist. Mr Mayo is a signatory of the Uluru Statement from the Heart and has been a leading advocate since its inception in May 2017.
Yes23 declined to comment on the video, but a senior source who did not want to be named described it as “appalling” and said Mr Mundine should be denounced by the official campaign.
But Advance Australia told news.com.au that Mr Mundine was not related to the official No campaign and noted Yes campaign supporters had threatened their supporters with violence too before declining to comment further.
Mr Mundine has been outspoken about his opposition to the Voice.
He blasted the advisory body as a “takeover” and a tool to take away Indigenous Australian’s sovereignty.
“It’s a takeover … they want to take our sovereignty, so we fall under their jurisdiction as British subjects, so once our sovereignty is ceded then we’ll have no power,” Mr Mundine said on Sky News.
“Why the hell do we need a Voice? We’ve got people in parliament, we’ve got senators, we’re already making our voices heard.”
Mr Mundine’s former code, the NRL, has publicly backed the Yes vote, as has the AFL.
Indigenous sporting legends Adam Goodes, Eddie Betts and Evonne Goolagong Cawlely have also vocalised their support.
Mr Mayo has also not been far from the headlines.
In June a series of unearthed tweets from 2020 revealed Mr Mayo hoped the Voice would be a step towards getting non-Indigenous Aussies to “pay the rent” for living on Australian land.
He said a “Blak rep body” enshrined in the Constitution – as called for in the Uluru Statement – would have the “resources & structure needed to unite on the priorities we collectively determine.”
“Reparations, land back, abolishing harmful colonial institutions, getting ALL our kids out of prisons & in to care, respect & integration of our laws & lore, speaking language, wages back – all the things we imagine when we demand,” he wrote.
In response to someone calling for non-Indigenous Australians to “pay rent”, Mr Mayo said the way to do this was through a constitutionally enshrined representative body “that the politicians cannot ignore”.
“Paying the rent must be more than your donations to struggling mob – which is important. It must be negotiated with the Commonwealth: reparations, land back etc,” he said.
Yes23 campaign director Dean Parkin downplayed the tweets on 2GB.
“That’s not the weight of the issues people have been talking to me about,” he said. “It’s got nothing to do with the Voice,” Mr Parkin said.
“The Voice is absolutely and has always been about getting to the nub of those real issues facing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in communities: health, education … young people … that’s what the Voice will be focused on.”
Mr Mayo told news.com.au this month tactics by the No campaign were “disappointing”.
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“It’s just blatant. The No campaign wants to cause confusion and whip up fear among people”.
He also told the Sydney Morning Herald he “did not believe the Voice would focus on reparations ... It’s about the priorities in our communities – health, education, the environment, all of that stuff”.
– with Shannon Molloy and Chantelle Francis
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