Prime Minister speaks in favour of Yes vote on Voice referendum during Hobart visit
The status quo is not serving Australia’s first people, the Prime Minister says. His latest take on the Voice referendum in Hobart >
Tasmania
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has made a passionate appeal in favour of the “Yes” vote in the Voice referendum during a visit to Hobart on Thursday.
Joined by state and federal MPs during the opening of the Hobart Urgent Care Clinic, Mr Albanese said the status quo was not serving anyone well.
“If we do the same thing, we should expect the same outcomes,” he said.
“We have an eight-year life expectancy gap, a young Indigenous male is more likely to go to jail than to go to university, a young Indigenous woman is more likely to die in childbirth than a non-Indigenous woman.
“We have gaps in health and education and housing, we need to do something different and to do something better.
“This is an opportunity. This is a request from indigenous Australians, for Australians to walk with them to a better future as the conclusion of the Uluru statement says.”
Mr Albanese on Wednesday announced the referendum on the Voice would take place on October 14.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff — the nation’s lone Liberal premier — is also a strong supporter of a yes vote on the Voice, putting him at odds with his party’s federal leadership.
“My views are very clear and I’ve stated my views on the Voice for some time now,” he said.
“We need to acknowledge and recognise where we have failed First Nations people and Indigenous Australians.
“The gap is too large when it comes to educational attainment, incarceration, health data, and we can do better and that’s the reason that I’ll be supporting the ‘Yes’ campaign and like every other Australian whether you’re a prime minister or a premier, police officer, farmer right across we all go to the ballot box to cast our vote as equals across this nation.
“What I want to see is a nation that moves forward in partnership with First Nations people really listening and addressing those matters that are so important.
“At the end of the day, the Uluru Statement of the Heart was born of First Nations people, not political parties, and we need to listen and we need to learn and we need to take this country forward.”
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