Voice Yes and No camps fight it out for multicultural support

It's a demographic that has proven crucial in consecutive elections and the plebiscite. Now both the Yes and No camp are wooing Western Sydney’s multicultural communities. How will they vote?

Proponents of an Indigenous voice to parliament are hoping to sway the crucial multicultural community as the referendum campaign ramps up but MPs in the state’s most diverse communities say the pitch is not cutting through – with one saying the referendum “is not a priority for me”.

The Uluru Youth Dialogue will hold a three-day conference from tomorrow to convince mutli-cultural community groups from across the country to vote Yes for an constitutionally enshrined Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice to parliament.

Organisers Allira Davis and Bridget Cama said multicultural youths would be able to pass on the message to their parents and grandparents in a way that resonated with them.

“We know from historic referendums and elections that generally Australians don’t engage with a vote until six to eight weeks beforehand. That’s why Allira and I hosted this conference, we know what is needed the most is those really meaningful and informed conversations,” Ms Cama said.

Uluru Youth Dialogue Co-Chairs, Cobble Cobble woman Allira Davis and Wiradjuri woman Bridget Cama. Picture: David Clark

The pair are not phased by concerns multicultural communities are not interested in the debate and said the organisation’s research showed support was growing.

“We’ve seen through our research that western Sydney is really engaged with the issue. There’s a lot of support for the issue. A lot of people out there know a lot of aboriginal people,” Ms Cama said.

“It just shows that we need to keep having conversations at the local levels.”

Ms David added: “We are making sure our multicultural brothers and sisters understand the details of the Voice.”

But it’s not just the Yes campaign that is wooing multicultural communities for support with Lindsay MP Melissa McIntosh hosting a No community event in Blacktown on Thursday night.

About 600 people from across the region will gather to hear from No advocates and Senators Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Kerrynne Liddle.

“There was an overwhelming ‘No’ response to the Voice in a recent survey to my community, where people also had the opportunity to give clear feedback on their key concerns, particularly that they do not know what the Voice is about,” Ms McIntosh said.

“Most people in our Western Sydney community support constitutional recognition for our First Nations people.

Lindsay MP Melissa McIntosh. Picture: Martin Ollman

Fowler MP Dai Le said her community in Sydney’s southwest was totally disengaged on the issue, with cost of living issues remaining the biggest priority for the region.

“People are not engaged in my electorate, people don’t stop me to ask about that at all. It’s not front and centre for people’s minds, what’s front and centre is electricity prices, rent going up, parking,” she said.

“(The Voice) is not a priority for me, it’s up to those who are advocating for it.”

Ms Le said it was too early to see how the “socially conservative electorate” would vote.