Yes campaign holds Voice to Parliament event in Bundaberg

Prominent Yes advocate and Goreng Goreng woman will be among speakers at the Bundaberg Yarn on the Voice event on July 26.

Thomas Mayo (left) and Jade Appo-Ritchie (right) will be attending the Bundaberg Yarn on the Voice event at the Bundaberg Multiplex on July 26.

The information campaign for the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum is ramping up this week, with pamphlets detailing the Yes and No cases published online on Tuesday, July 18, before being sent out to households across the country in the months leading up to the referendum.

Bundaberg residents are being given an added opportunity to learn more about the Voice and why it is needed through a free panel discussion provided by the Yes23 campaign in partnership with the Port Curtis Coral Coast Trust.

Yes advocates Jade Appo-Ritchie and Thomas Mayo will be attending the Bundaberg Yarn on the Voice event at the Bundaberg Multiplex on July 26.

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While the Bundaberg Yarn on the Voice is one of many community engagement events planned by the Yes23 campaign around the country, this one has a special significance for Ms Appo-Ritchie.

Jade Appo-Ritchie grew up in Bundaberg before moving to the Northern Territory 10 years ago where she has worked in various roles in youth justice and Indigenous Affairs for the NT government.

A Goreng Goreng woman, Ms Appo-Ritchie grew up in Bundaberg before moving to the Northern Territory 10 years ago where she has worked in various roles in youth justice and Indigenous Affairs for the NT government.

Ms Appo-Ritchie is looking forward to coming home to engage in a dialogue with the Bundaberg community around the Voice.

“We‘re framing it as a yarn, and that’s because we want to give information and we certainly want to invite questions and discussion,” she said.

“Through these discussions, we see that once people have their concerns cleared up and have their questions answered, they feel really comfortable with the idea of having an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice providing advice to government on the things that matter to Indigenous people.”

The No pamphlet leads with the slogan “if you don’t know, vote no”, claiming that the Voice proposal “is legally risky, with unknown consequences”.

Counter to this claim, Ms Appo-Ritchie encourages voters to be informed about the Voice proposal before going to the ballot box at the end of the year.

Jade Appo-Ritchie encourages voters to be informed about the Voice proposal before going to the ballot box at the end of the year.

“What we’re actually saying is that Australians need to be informed to make this very important decision,” she said.

“So if you don’t know, seek out the information and these info sessions are just one way of doing that. Rather than listen to some of the fear mongering that is simply not true, it’s really important to go and get that correct information.”

In response to the No campaign’s claims that the Voice will be divisive, Ms Appo-Ritchie points to longstanding initiatives such as the Closing the Gap report that show there is already an entrenched divide between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

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“We’re only achieving four out of 17 targets on the Closing the Gap Report,” she said.

“There are still Indigenous communities that can‘t access clean drinking water, who are in overcrowded houses of 20 or so people.

“This is a really unifying opportunity in that Indigenous and non Indigenous people will both be able to enjoy the same positive outcomes in life.”

Longstanding initiatives such as the Closing the Gap report show there is already an entrenched divide between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, Ms Appo-Ritchie said.

But the gaps Ms Appo-Ritchie is most intent on closing through the Bundaberg Yarn on the Voice event are the gaps in voters’ understanding of how the Voice will benefit Indigenous and non-Indigenous people alike.

“It will be my job next week to bring people along on that journey and fill in the gaps in our understanding,” she said.

“That is what these sessions are for – to fill in the gaps with truth.”

To find out more and register for the Bundaberg Yarn on the Voice event go to the Port Curtis Coral Coast Trust facebook page.