Key Points
- Two million Australians have voted early on the Voice to Parliament referendum.
- Anthony Albanese cast his ballot on Saturday.
- Young people are being targetted in the campaign for a Yes vote.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Australians have an opportunity at the upcoming Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum that may not come around “for a very long time”, as he became one of the two million people to have cast their vote at pre-polling stations around the country.
Albanese was accompanied by his son Nathan at a booth in his Sydney electorate of Marrickville where he cast his ballot a week before the referendum.
He said he did so knowing it was a "once in a generation chance" to "make history".
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese arrives to cast his vote in the Voice referendum in Sydney's Marrickville on Saturday. Source: AAP / /
"It may not come around for a very long time again."
How many people have voted early at the referendum?
It would be a permanent body but hold no veto right and the parliament will have the power to change the model and how it functions through legislation.
Two million people have already voted in pre-polling booths around the country as of midday Saturday, according to the Australian Electoral Commission.
No campaigners say it’s light on detail
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said while all Australians wanted to help Indigenous people, the constitutional proposal remained vague.
"Tradies and others who are just saying, 'Well, you know, I want to help Indigenous people, but the prime minister's not putting the detail out there, so I don't understand it, I'm not voting for it'," he said.
Opposition Indigenous Australians spokeswoman Jacinta Price also posted a campaign video on her Facebook page on Friday, explaining the case for a No vote.
"You don't need to change the constitution to give me a voice," she ends the video saying.
"We all have a voice, right now."
Campaigners are targetting young people on the referendum
Senior NSW Liberal MP Matt Kean on Saturday went against his federal party's stance on the voice, instead calling on young Liberals to ignore their parents' voting intentions and stand up for their own beliefs.
"Our party needs the Young Liberals not to be a faint echo of what they hope will appeal to future preselectors, but to be a voice for its generation," he told The Daily Telegraph.
"I believe you are at your best when you embody the future rather than seeking to mimic and appease the past."
The prime minister also applauded the makers behind a viral video featuring Indigenous rapper Briggs and comedy duo Jenna Owen and Victoria Zerbst, urging young people to conduct research into the Voice to Parliament question before voting.
Mr Albanese said the video highlighted why it was important to “have a conversation”.
Australians will go to the polls on 14 October, with a majority of people in at least four states needing to vote Yes for the referendum to be carried, as well as a majority of Australians nationally.
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- With AAP
