‘Time is now’: Australia-wide campaign to call for referendum on Indigenous Voice

A new campaign will tell Australians that “the time has come” to decide if they want to recognise the nation’s first people in the Constitution as it calls on the country to support its first referendum since 1999.

The landmark call to action – backed by campaign veterans, philanthropists and corporates – will be heard and seen on screens across Australia for the next three weeks as an Indigenous-led campaign seeks to elevate the Voice to Parliament as a key election issue for the May 21 poll.

The ad will be launched this week and will make the case for the first referendum in 23 years, arguing that an Indigenous Voice would be most symbolic and powerful if it came with the support of the Australian public.

“We could ask the government to legislate it, but we would rather the Australian people vote for it,” the ad, voiced by advertising legend Ted Horton and set to a plain black backdrop, says.

“Just think how much more powerful it would be if the recognition hoped for by Indigenous Australians was achieved with the support of all Australians.”

The Voice to Parliament would be a body enshrined in the Constitution that enables Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to provide advice on policies that affect their lives. The proposal emerged from the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart.

The Uluru Statement from the Heart was released in 2019, with a Voice to Parliament one of its main aims.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Dean Parkin, director of the From the Heart campaign, said this was the first time the Indigenous community had taken matters into their own hands in such a way during an election campaign.

“An Indigenous-led cause is putting out a very serious television commercial during an election campaign to elevate our issues to the national agenda. I can’t recall another example of that,” he said.

“There’s a lot of noise at the moment, in and around the election. What we want to do is focus people in on the message, cut through the clutter, and simplify this ... We need to make sure our issue is one that Australians are taking very seriously when politicians all over the country are listening to what’s important.

“It’s us not sitting back and waiting for governments to tell us it’s ok to do it. We’re leading the conversation with the Australian people, and we’re saying ‘let’s turn this conversation into real action’. We’re really excited about it hitting the airwaves.”

Director of the From the Heart campaign Dean Parkin.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

With a starting budget of about $500,000, the ad will be rolled out across television and digital channels, including free-to-air TV, Foxtel, YouTube and news websites.

The 60-second clip is voiced and created by advertising veteran Horton, who worked on John Howard’s election campaigns.

“There comes a time for everything and everyone,” Horton says, while music plays in the background. “For our Constitution and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, that time is now.”

The script in the From the Heart advertisement

“There comes a time for everything and everyone. For our constitution and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, that time is now.

Only 55 years after they were first counted in the census, but tens of thousands of years since they first worked on this land. The time has come for the Australian people to decide if we do or do not wish to formally recognise Indigenous Australians as Australia’s first people. And acknowledge that any recognition is only made meaningful with a voice.

We could ask the government to legislate it, but we would rather the Australian people vote for it. Just think how much more powerful it would be if the recognition hoped for by Indigenous Australians was achieved with the support of all Australians.

The time for a referendum has come.”

There are no visuals, but Horton said the ad’s simplicity was an essential feature. “The recognition of Indigenous Australians is not a political question, it’s a moral question in my mind. I wanted to ensure that however we executed this message, that it was as apolitical as it could possibly be,” he told the Herald and The Age.

“There are no symbols in there other than the typography; too often, in the attempt to create a more heightened emotional response, what might be a positive image to someone might be a negative image to someone else.

“I didn’t want anything that could get in the way of the very simple and sole message of whether we do or don’t formally recognise Indigenous Australians [with a Voice in the Constitution].”

Horton said the “it’s time” language, which evoked Gough Whitlam’s successful 1972 campaign, was a well-known advertising technique. Given Howard first promised constitutional recognition in 2007, and the Uluru Statement came in 2017, it’s a fitting phrase.

“There comes a time when we just have to make a decision: yes or no. It can’t go on forever,” Horton said.

The campaign hopes to secure a bipartisan commitment to holding a referendum in 2023.

Parkin said it would ideally be held on May 27 next year: the anniversary of the 1967 referendum.

“We’ve had 15 years of promises and commitment, now it’s time to deliver. Let’s take it out of the hands of political leaders, commentators and talking heads, and put it to the people to have their say,” he said.

Polling conducted by the CT Group in August last year found 57 per cent of Australians said they would vote yes to a proposal “to change the Constitution to set up a new body comprising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people that gives advice to the federal government on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues”.

Sixteen per cent said they would vote no, and 28 per cent were undecided. The yes vote was higher among Indigenous Australians: 80 per cent said they would vote in favour of reform, 7 per cent would vote against, and 13 per cent were undecided.

The Morrison government has set aside $160 million for a referendum on constitutional recognition and held a consultation process on the design of a Voice, however, it has indicated it would establish a Voice through legislation rather than a national vote.

The Labor Party has agreed to a referendum on a Voice to Parliament, but neither party have committed to a timeline.

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