PM’s passionate plea to the nation as date confirmed for Voice referendum

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has made a final plea to Australians as he confirms the date of the Voice to parliament referendum.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed the date of the Voice referendum revealing voters will go to the polls on October 14.

Kicking off a six-week campaign, Mr Albanese said it was a “once in a generation chance to bring our country together and to change it for the better.”

“Our government, along with every single state and territory government, has committed to it. Legal experts have endorsed it,” he said.

“People on all sides of the Parliament have backed it. Faith groups and sporting codes and local councils and businesses and unions have embraced it. An army of volunteers from every part of this great nation are throwing all of their energy behind it.

“Now, my fellow Australians, you can vote for it … on October 14, there’s nothing for us to lose. And there’s so much for Australia to gain. There is no downside here.

“Only upside. Friends, many times when I’ve spoken about this change I’ve asked – if not now, when? This is it. October 14 is our time. It’s our chance. It’s a moment calling out to the best of our Australian character. 

“For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people this has been a marathon. For all of us, it is now a sprint. And across the finish line is a more unified, more reconciled Australia, with greater opportunities for all.”

Mr Albanese said voters were being asked to say Yes, to an invitation that comes directly from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander themselves.

“A proposal that thousands of elders and leaders and communities all over our country have worked on for well over a decade,’’ he said.

Anthony Albanese revealing the Voice vote date. Picture: ABC News

“In our Constitution, and a form of recognition that will importantly make a positive difference to their lives and their futures.”

Mr Albanese pleaded with voters not to “close the door” on recognition.

“We can make this change together,’’ he said. “And then we’ll make it work together with a voice that’s independent from day to day politics so that it can plan for the long term.

“And let’s be very clear about the alternative, because voting no leads nowhere.

“It means nothing changes. Voting no closes the door on this opportunity to move forward. I say today. Don’t close the door on constitutional recognition.

“Don’t close the door on listening to communities to get no results, don’t close the door on an idea that came from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people themselves. Don’t close the door.”

Premier’s powerful plea

In a rallying call for change, SA premier Peter Malinauskas said South Australians had “always been ready to lead, particularly when it comes to taking the aspiration of the fair-go and transforming it into a living truth.”

“That’s why this was the first place anywhere in the world to adopt universal franchise, giving the women the right to vote and the ability to run for parliament,’’ he said.

“That’s why this is the first state to outlaw discrimination on the basis of race or ethnicity.

“That’s why this was the first state to decriminalise homosexuality.

“That’s why we were the first state to legislate on Aboriginal land rights.”

Mr Malinauskas said that what sets Australia apart from other countries was an ethos of egalitarianism.

“What sets us apart isn’t mineral wealth, sustained economic growth, or natural beauty. It’s something deep within our national character,’’ he said.

Peter Malinauskas. Picture: Ben Clark

“We don’t celebrate the primacy of the individual in the way they do in the United States, nor do we identify with the deference the English pay to their establishment. Our national identity is carved from an ethos of egalitarianism, our fundamental sense of fairness. An affection that extends beyond those to whom we are related.”

“Our national identity is found in each other. It’s a unique, liberating trait

The SA Premier said he did not know what the outcome of this referendum would be.

“Nor does anyone know the outcome on October 14,’’ he said.

But in a powerful moment, he predicted Australians would rise to the challenge.

“But we do know this generation of Australians are descendants of all those who have chosen to act with generosity and foresight before us,’’ he said.

“If our forefathers and mothers can say yes to universal franchise, if our great grandparents can say yes to waves of migration, if our grandparents can say yes in 1967. If our parents can say yes to land rights, then this generation is capable of saying yes to an advisory committee.”

‘Once in a lifetime opportunity’

The referendum must win a national majority and be supported by a majority of states to pass.

The Australian Electoral Commission has sent 13 million households pamphlets outlining both sides of the referendum debate.

Voters will be asked to say Yes or No to the following question:

“A Proposed Law: To alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. Do you approve this proposed alteration?”

Minister Indigenous Australians Linda Burney said Australians had “nothing to lose and everything to gain” by making the change.

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our nation’s founding document,’’ Minister Burney said.

Anthony Albanese holds a press conference for The Voice referendum at the Sydney Opera House. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ Sam Ruttyn

“With three letters, every Australian has the power to make the greatest country on earth even better.

“By voting yes to listening, and voting yes to better outcomes, Australia has nothing to lose and everything to gain.”

More than 400 people were expected to be at the Playford Civic Centre in Elizabeth to watch the Yes campaign launch and hear the Prime Minister announce the referendum date.

Mr Albanese has argued that previous Prime Ministers from John Howard to Scott Morrison, had also advocated constitutional recognition for Indigenous Australians.

“When you get rid of all of the noise, there is very little difference here,” he said.

But Mr Howard has told Sky News the Yes case is “weak” and voters don’t like being “bullied”.

“I think the case for voting Yes is very weak,” Mr Howard said. “I find it quite extraordinary that the Prime Minister and his colleagues are almost boasting about the fact that they haven’t ­explained it.

“I’m against the voice proposal. I don’t like anything that divides us according to race.”

Mr Albanese is expected to return to South Australia, Western Australia and other battleground states multiple times to secure a majority of states for the Yes vote.

Northern Territory Senator Malarndirri McCarthy called on South Australians to support the Yes campaign to help end a “circle of grief” for first nations people.

“SA is an important state,’’ she told Channel Nine’s Today show. “It is also the place where it was a free settler colony, if you think about it.

“We lose First Nations People through a high rate of suicide, birthrates and all these factors that we’re constantly in a cycle of grief.”

“I don’t want that to be a problem for our next generation of Australians.”

According to a recent SECNewgate Research Mood of the Nation survey, 54 per cent of voters intended to vote No ahead of 46 per cent backing Yes.

The poll put the No vote ahead in South Australia (54-46 per cent), Queensland (63-37 per cent), WA (63-37), and NSW (52-48 per cent).

Younger voters will also be critical to the outcome with 68 per cent of voters aged 18-34 suggesting they would vote Yes, compared with 32 per cent aged over 50.