The Voice: These nine Sydney suburbs are bracing for a Yes campaign blitz

Knock knock! Residents in nine key Western Sydney suburbs will be bombarded with a Yes campaign blitz targeting multicultural communities this week. Find out where.

Residents in nine key Western Sydney suburbs will be bombarded with a Yes campaign blitz targeting multicultural communities this week as support for a Voice to Parliament falls and diverse groups struggle to engage just a month out of the referendum.

The federal electorates of Parramatta, Watson, Chifley and Reid will be the focus of a campaign being rolled out in more than 28 languages in an attempt to capture the multicultural communities who are proving vital to the October 14 referendum.

The Sydney Alliance — which is made up of 50 diverse organisations — will be doing the heavy lifting, committing to a mammoth 2000 hours of campaigning across Campbelltown, Fairfield, Merrylands, Parramatta, Granville, Carlingford, Ryde, Mount Druitt, and Chatswood. Yes campaigners will be hosting stalls across the nine suburbs to educate people on the Voice proposal.

Yes campaign director Dean Parkin. Picture: Brendan Radke

The Yes campaign has seen off-shoots emerge within multicultural communities including groups like Desis for Yes from the south-east Asian community.

Desis for Yes co-founder and Sydney Alliance co-chair Nishadh Rego said it was important for “newer Australians to vote in an informed way”.

“The reactions have been largely positive, people in our communities want to learn more about the referendum; when we explain it clearly the Yes vote resonates,” Mr Rego said.

“It’s important for us as newer Australians to vote in an informed way – this is our history and our future too”

Filipinos for Yes volunteer Mariza Sollano said it was not “good enough” for multicultural communities to be disengaged.

Chantelle Ogilvie-Ellis will be out campaigning in Merrylands. Photo: Tim Pascoe

“Australia is my home now, I’ve resided in Australia for longer than I’ve been in my homeland. It’s not good enough for us to be disengaged,” she said.

“There is a lot of misinformation out there as well. Part of it is because you have to understand that a lot of multicultural Australians aren’t born here so they don’t understand the history and the struggle of Aboriginal Australians. If you go through that (with them), they have a better appreciation for First Nations peoples struggles.”

Sydney Alliance organiser Chantelle Ogilvie-Ellis will be out campaigning on Wednesday in Merrylands to engage voters in the heart of Western Sydney.

“One of the things that disengages people is hearing lots of information and not knowing what to trust,” she said.

“We are showing people a friendly face on the Yes side in their own neighbourhood.”

Yes campaign director Dean Parkin said the partnership with Sydney Alliance showed the “grassroots” campaign the Yes side is running.

Rachel Perkins join individual members from peak religious institutions calling on Australian political leaders to take action on a First Nations. Picture: Jeremy Piper

“This partnership highlights the grassroots backing for the Yes vote in Greater Sydney’s vibrant and diverse community,” he said.

“In addition to the 181 multicultural and multifaith organisations that are supporting a yes vote, this builds on the positive momentum of the Yes campaign and demonstrates there is a lot of goodwill in Sydney’s multicultural community.”

But the push for Yes may hit a hurdle in one council with Faifield Mayor Frank Carbone planning to pull down all Voice related posters from the city regardless of whether they are Yes or No.

“Communities in Western Sydney are more concerned about the cost of living than the referendum. What people don’t want is people knocking on their doors and trying to convince people how to vote. We don’t need anybody coming around and telling us what you should and shouldn’t do,” he said.

Fairfield Mayor Frank Carbone. Picture: Richard Dobson

Parramatta Lord Mayor Sameer Pandey. Picture: Ben Williams Photography

“If the posters are on major traffic areas where they make it look undesirable and impact the city, I am about to instruct my council staff to remove all posters that have been dumped in our city. I don’t want any posters, Yes or No, in my city especially given this council has taken the decision to leave it up to the community to make up their own mind.”

Others were more welcoming of the campaigning on their patch with Parramatta mayor Sameer Pandey saying he was not surprised the area was a key battleground.

“City of Parramatta supports the establishment of an Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander Voice in Australia,” Mr Pandey said.

“We recognise there is a diversity of views in our community and want to see open, respectful and constructive dialogue on the issue.

“We’re a big community right in the heart of greater Sydney so it’s not surprising people want to find out what we think.”