If No gets up I'm dreading the lecture from Aunty ABC. International shame, last chance at reconciliation destroyed, centuries of oppression to continue, permanent disadvantage etc. Getting over it doesn't seem to be an option, nor making better use of the money they already have.

As to election voting I didn't put a mark on the slip for the seat of Lyons as I didn't think any of the candidates were worth it. Some say that was a wasted vote. Maybe then again I couldn't be responsible for whichever disappointment succeeded. Let's hope they deduct the $200m cost of the referendum from some other pointless exercise.

Thoroughly unconvincing argument. There's no rational case for voting informal. It's not as though there were candidates/party hacks on offer, just an up or down, yes or no.
Alan B.

Adversarial views are popular.
One team against another.
But there is only one team.
Ours.
Everything we do is for us.
Not for some 'other side' living just nearby.
Don't waste your vote.
Every informal vote could assist a change you don't really want.
Some countries would envy our relatively stable democracy.
So make your vote count.

As an aside....
I am waiting for someone to point out the word should be 'informally'.
This word modifies the verb voting, so an adverb is needed?
So I put in one vote for better education?

Thank you, Chris, for a thoughtful piece that expresses many of the reasons why I dislike this campaign - the poor (and often nasty) arguments on both sides, and the unwelcome dilemma it forces on us.

I don’t agree, though, that an informal vote is the answer. It is a cop-out that will not be interpreted as a considered position, but as stupidity or laziness. And unlike the Tasmanian example the article provides, there is not enough of a public groundswell against the choice being forced on us that there is likely to be a large informal vote, or that this would be correctly interpreted as rejecting the referendum.

I still haven’t made up my mind but am leaning towards a reluctant “Yes” because I think the consequences of a “No” outcome will be even worse than a “Yes”, for precisely the reason the article gives – it will be interpreted as a vote against reconciliation. But it feels rather like caving in to moral blackmail.

I’ve already and long ago decided my position on the Aboriginal question, and it needs not be a yes or no, so informal is a Democratic choice.

Voting should not be compulsory!