TRANSCRIPT
Leading supporters of the Yes Campaign have been out in droves, rallying, flyering and participating in community sessions across the country. Greens Leader Adam Bandt and former Minister for Indigenous Affairs Ken Wyatt handed out flyers for YES23 at North Melbourne station on Wednesday morning. Minister for Indigenous Affairs Linda Burney led a rally in Bendigo, with deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles out campaigning in Strathfield and Campaign Director Dean Parkin door-knocking in Cairns.
The No campaign was more low-key, after leading campaigner Warren Mundine's speech at the National Press Club in Canberra on Tuesday. In the second press club speech by a prominent No supporter after Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price's earlier this month, Mr Mundine did not avoid controversy, describing the Uluru Statement from the Heart as "a symbolic declaration of war".
"The Uluru Statement couldn't be further from the idea of reconciliation. The full manifesto is steeped in grievance. It sees Indigenous Australians as trapped in victimhood and oppression, not free or able to make their own decisions. Self-determination is an unrealised aspiration. This is a lie."
Mr Mundine has accused the Albanese government of wanting to put racial segregation back into the Constitution through the Voice's constitutionally enshrined advisory body on issues affecting Indigenous Australians. He says Australians will have a choice when they vote on October the 14th.
"A choice of what kind of nation we want to be. Do we want Australia to be a liberal democracy where all people are equal? Where all Australians can reconcile and moving ahead united as a country? Or do we want to be a country where people are divided by race, permanently in conflict with each other over facts of history that cannot be altered?"
There has been disagreement among prominent No supporters about how they will pursue reconciliation should the Yes vote fail. Mr Mundine has said that a No vote will make it easier for Indigenous Australians to negotiate a treaty, while Ms Price has opposed a treaty and is yet to back the idea of constitutional recognition.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, who has previously said the Liberal party will support constitutional recognition, has refused to comment further on exactly what kind of reconciliation he wants to see.
"In Alice Springs, in Tennant Creek, in Laverton and Leonora, in those communities that are most acutely impacted, I want to make sure that those young kids can lead a life that we would expect our kids to lead in a capital city or in a regional town. I want there to be an opportunity for those kids to go into a good job. I want industry and the business sector to prosper there so that there can be a thriving economy so that people can afford to buy houses."
Wednesday saw leading Yes Campaigner Noel Pearson address the National Press Club. Mr Pearson was in Aurukun during Mr Mundine's speech, before remote voting began in the Queensland community on Tuesday after starting across the nation on Monday. He has called for the Voice to operate at a local and regional level so that the concerns of communities like Aurukun can be heard properly.
Mr Dutton says that Mr Pearson has contributed to uncertainty about what the Voice will be, leading to declining support for the Yes campaign.
"You've got Mr Pearson coming out with a different version of what the Voice would be every other day. How the Yes case can argue to the Australian public that you can have a design of the Voice taking place after the vote on the Saturday. It would make more sense to me to have designed the Voice so that people can understand what it is they're being asked to vote for."
In Canberra, Mr Pearson responded to Mr Mundine's "war" rhetoric by urging Australians to vote Yes out of a civic "love of country". He says that the Voice represents a safe middle path for the relationship between Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.
"Voting Yes is a rejection of confected war. Voting No is not a neutral choice. Voting No is an active choice to take us nowhere. Voting No leaves us suspended in the neverland that exists when two peoples love the same homeland, but have not yet learned to love each other."
Mr Pearson responded to concerns that the Yes campaign might not be resonating with Australians from multicultural backgrounds, because of concerns about the Voice's constitutional safety. He says that the proposal is "constitutionally safe" and that a successful yes vote on the Voice could provide a unifying moment for all Australians.
"We can move to an Australia where the Indigenous, the British descendants, and the multicultural mob become one. And we all know we're Australians, there's no priority among us, we're all equally Australians. It'll be a great day when we do that."
He also gave his "elevator pitch" on the proposal which says he has used to win over undecided voters.
"Firstly, it is the recognition It will be the one line of poetry in what is otherwise a barren, dry, rules of cricket. Because it speaks to our history. Secondly, "There shall be a body", what is the function of the body? It is to make representations. Everybody makes representations. Miners, farmer, environmentals, human rights - everybody makes representations. And that's what the Voice will do. And the thing about representations - they'll listen to you, but there's no guarantee they're going to follow you all the time. And what about? About matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples."
Polls in the last month have consistently shown support for the Voice is failing. With the Yes campaign needing to make up lost ground, some of the Voice's most prominent backers were joining the push on Wednesday to increase support.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was set to appear in Sydney alongside band the Hoodoo Gurus, and former Prime Minister Julia Gillard was speaking at the launch of the YES23 Campaign in London to some of Australia's 160,000 overseas voters.
With the referendum just over two weeks away, Yes Campaigner Thomas Mayo says he believes the race is closer than polls indicate.
"From what I know from door-knocking, from leafletting from at train stations and at markets, there's quite an even race here at the moment, but there are a lot of Australians that are undecided."
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