one that keeps their promises?
Yuyutsu,
Definitely NO when the promise is an idiotic & divisive one. He also promised lower power prices etc. He didn't keep any of those !
There's a massive difference between ideology & reality !

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Dear John (the author),

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You wrote :

« She [Jacinta Price] advocated an end to "academics and activists" thinking they knew better than people on the ground in remote communities and explained that a new way of thinking was required. »
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That sounds like good advice, John. The only problem is the “people on the ground” she refers to don’t seem to agree with her.

Jacinta’s election to the Senate in 2022 came overwhelmingly from suburban voters in Darwin, Alice Springs and Katherine, not voters in the bush. Her constituency is predominantly white.

Five years ago, in 2018, before she became a senator, a social media petition circulated to protest against her and her mother being represented in local media as community leaders. More than 10,000 people signed the petition which stated: “Neither woman have been elected as Aboriginal leaders by Aboriginal people and we the undersigned, largely disagree with both women’s views”.

Also, declaring, as she did, that “there’s no ongoing negative impacts of colonisation” seems more like the “thinking” of East Coast conservatives than that of remote outback Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island communities.

In the Lingiari electorate of the Northern Territory, 74% of the 11,000 people who live in the electorate’s remote areas voted YES and in Yuendemu, the community home of Jacinta’s family, 75% voted YES.

The NO vote majority in the Northern Territory as a whole, came from suburban voters in Darwin, Alice Springs and Katherine – not from “people on the ground in the remote communities”. In their large majority, they voted “YES”.

Strange, isn’t it ? None of this seems to corroborate Jacinta’s inference that "academics and activists" were responsible for promoting the YES vote “thinking they knew better than people on the ground in remote communities and … that a new way of thinking was required”.

People on the ground in remote communities did not reject the thinking of "academics and activists", they rejected Jacinta and her mother and overwhelmingly voted YES at the Voice referendum.

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Yuyutsu,
Dutton is not 'walking away' from a promise, he's changed into a direction that won't waste another lot of funding wasted !

Dear Indyvidual,

Levy Eshkol, Israel's 3rd prime-minister, was known for his saying: "Yes I promised, but I have not promised to keep my promise".

How would you liked it if you voted for a politician because you believed in their stated policies, who day after the elections turned them all 180º?

Best, of course, is to never promise anything:

"Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.
A dream comes when there are many cares, and many words mark the speech of a fool.
When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow.
It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it.
Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, “My vow was a mistake.” Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands?"
[Ecclesiastes 5:2-6]

You are correct in saying that "There's a massive difference between ideology & reality!", so why did Anthony and Peter respectively not say instead: "my ideology is to hold a referendum"? Then at least they would be saying the truth.

On the one hand I respect Anthony for keeping his promise, no matter how idiotic.
On the other hand, he only promised to hold that particular referendum, he never promised to make it divisive, so instead he could declare:

"Fellow Australians, I promised you to hold a referendum regarding an aboriginal Voice to parliament. While I no longer believe that such a referendum is needed, it will nevertheless be held on October 14th. To save costs, no public funds will be used to advocate for or against the proposal; privately-funded advocacy will not be tax-deductible; and since the referendum will be held anyway, it will also include other constitutional issues that arose in recent years, such as the repealing of section 44."

On the one hand I respect Anthony for keeping his promise, no matter how idiotic.
Yuyutsu,
Are you listening to yourself ? How could Dutton possibly stand by his promise with that result ?
Only someone as insipid as a Labor voter can't see that !

Dear Indyvidual,

Why an absolute crock.

Frydenburg had set aside money in his last budget to run a referendum on a Voice to parliament.

Virtually all the process was done under the Liberal government from Uluru up to the referendum council.

Labor agreed and promised to run the referendum.

Now suddenly it was idiotic and a waste of money and all Albos fault?

That is a profoundly ignorant take and you should be ashamed of it.