Prime Minister Anthony Albanese makes final pitch for the Voice at Glenelg, as The Advertiser’s Voicewagen tour ends

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has made a last-ditch pitch to voters on the Voice, as The Advertiser’s Voicewagen tour of the state wrapped up with interesting results.

It was a fitting finale for what has become a star attraction.

On the final morning before referendum day, Nelson the 1973 Kombi van – dubbed the Advertiser’s Voicewagen – meets his final voter.

Their name? Anthony Albanese, 60, of Marrickville, NSW. Yes, the PM himself.

Nelson, fresh off the back of his 10-day loop of the state, is spending Friday morning finally enjoying some downtime at Glenelg beach.

It is here he meets Anthony, who is in town to make a last-minute pitch in support of the Voice.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with Nelson, The Advertiser’s Voicewagen, at Glenelg on Friday. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

“Australians are generous people,” Anthony tells us.

“What we’re being asked to do is say Yes to the request of Indigenous Australians, to just walk a few metres into a polling booth, write Y-E-S, and it will make a difference.

“Think with our heart, but also think with our head. We can’t keep doing things the same way.”

This is a chance to make history, Anthony says, and to complete our constitution “that pretends no one was here before 1788”.

Glenelg marks Nelson’s 20th stop and, with Anthony’s Yes vote included, we’ve now spoken to a total of 269 voters.

Of those, 129 (48 per cent) said they would be voting no, 71 (26.4 per cent) said they’ll say yes and 69 (25.6 per cent) told us they had not yet decided what they would write on their ballot paper.

Of the places we visited – keep in mind some sample sizes were small – the stop with the highest percentage of Yes voters was Unley and highest percentage of No voters was at Port Pirie.

On Thursday, the final day of Nelson’s trip, we set off from Loxton to make our way through the Riverland and back to Adelaide.

After a morning storm passes through, the weather clears and we find ourselves in sunny Swan Reach.

We wander into the local Op Shop, where we meet three yes voters including Swan Reach local Kaylene Russell, 69.

Kaylene Russell, of Swan Reach, says she is a likely ‘yes’ vote. Picture: Ben Clark

Cuddled up to Kaylene’s chest the whole time we speak is toy poodle Danny – the last puppy remaining in her dog Daisy’s litter.

Kaylene is looking for a loving home for Danny and suggests we could put her number in the paper just in case any readers are interested. We tell her we will happily vouch he is very cute and well-behaved.

Asked about how she’ll vote in the referendum, she says she’s probably a yes.

“I’m hoping that it will give Aboriginal people more of a say, even though I’m told that it’s actually split a few cultures and that, but I just want Aboriginals to have the right in their own country,” she tells us.

We head down towards the river and find a few drivers waiting to cross on the ferry. Among them is David Roenfeldt, 67, of Keyneton – on the other side. He’s made a recent decision to vote yes.

David Roenfeldt, in Swan Reach, says he’s also likely to vote ‘yes’. Picture: Ben Clark

“I spoke to my ex-wife about it and she clarified it quite well for me,” he says.

“I think it’s time for change – better that than nothing at all.”

There’s a kind of calm about Swan Reach. There aren’t many people around and the thought of stopping for a while at the pub, with its sweeping views of the river, does cross our minds.

But today’s windy weather has put us behind schedule, so we press on until we reach Bowhill, another river community.

After fuelling up Nelson and getting ourselves a quick bite at the general store, we are about to head out to see who we can find.

But, just before we do, a van pulls up outside the store and two women come in to order takeaway coffees.

It’s regular customers Ivy Campbell, 51, and Niecy Stewart, 24. Ivy is happy to stop for a chat about the Voice, and says she originally intended to vote no because “our people don’t trust government”.

But, she tells us, following reflection, she changed her mind.

“All it is is a Voice. If there are issues in the parliament affecting Aboriginal people, they can go through Aboriginal people to sort out the issues,” she said.

“This was set up by Aboriginal people, not by government. Aboriginal people should have had a Voice a long time ago.”

Ivy, partner Sam Stewart, 49, and their family run Ngaut Ngaut Aboriginal Tours at the nearby culturally-significant Ngaut Ngaut Conservation park.

Sam’s voting yes too, as are daughters Niecy and Sally, 22. All four and their younger kids – Bethani, Peter, Anita and Rylee – happily pose for a snap with Nelson, before they pile back into the van and we wave them on their way.

Ivy Campbell and partner Sam Stewart with children Niecy, Sally, Bethani, Peter, Anita and Rylee at Bowhill. Picture: Ben Clark

A short time later, we set off too. We make our way down the river until we reach Murray Bridge, and hit the streets.

Here, people are generally not keen to talk about the Voice. We speak to a handful of voters – mostly nos – before we find Allan McManus, 52, and John Rigney, 58, sitting in Diamond Park.

They’re old mates who grew up together in Meningie at the northern end of the Coorong. Both will vote no.

“I don’t trust the government, I think there’s a lot of corruption,” Allan says.

John adds: “We don’t need it and it wouldn’t work”.

John Rigney and Allan McManus, at Murray Bridge, both say they will vote ‘no’ on Saturday. Picture: Ben Clark

Finally, after 10 days on the road and 19 stops across the state, Nelson is headed home.

And so, we sign off – and we part ways with Nelson the Voicewagen. If we’re honest, we’ll miss the guy. It’s been a blast travelling around our great state, and we’ve loved getting to know people from all over.

We’ve heard all the reasons why South Australians do or do not support the Voice. Some have told us loudly and passionately, and some have said it in a whisper.

And we’ve heard plenty of people say they’re not sure, and some who say they don’t care.

Now though, it’s in the hands of the country. Will we have a Voice come Sunday?

Originally published as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese makes final pitch for the Voice at Glenelg, as The Advertiser’s Voicewagen tour ends