Albanese to attend barbie as Yes campaign offers food for thought
Anthony Albanese will attend a voice barbecue in Sydney as councils, churches, trade unions and community groups begin a week of events to promote the Yes case for the referendum.
Anthony Albanese will attend a voice barbecue in Sydney’s inner west on Saturday as councils, churches, trade unions and community groups across Australia begin a week of events to promote the Yes case for the referendum.
The Prime Minister is expected to join about 500 voice supporters in Petersham Park for the first leg of the Yes campaign. Other events across the nation have been designed with a lower profile: in Perth, Melville mayor George Gear will host a barbecue next to the council library with Indigenous leader Nolan Hunter, who will speak about what an enshrined voice means to Indigenous Australians. On Sunday, the public is invited to meet Indigenous voice supporters at a barbecue at Ettalong Beach on the NSW central coast. St Paul’s Cathedral in Melbourne will host a panel discussion on Monday.
Labor senator Pat Dodson will discuss the voice in some of the most troubled towns in his home state of Western Australia next week, including Carnarvon where Indigenous and non-Indigenous community members are struggling with an increase in crime and alcohol-fuelled violence.
The week of action begins after key voice proponents on the Albanese government’s referendum working group met Peter Dutton for a second time on Thursday. The Opposition Leader has not declared his position on the referendum but has been highly critical of the government’s approach. Indigenous leader Marcia Langton told The Weekend Australian that Mr Dutton was killing the bipartisanship on constitutional recognition that began with John Howard.
“In my opinion, his motive is as simple as shoring up the No voters and undecided voters as electoral collateral,” Professor Langton said.
Labor intends to introduce a bill into parliament next month to enable the referendum in the second half of 2023.
On referendum day, Australians will be asked a question that Mr Albanese has said could be as simple as: “Do you support an alteration to the Constitution that establishes an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice?”
The wording of that proposed amendment is not finalised, and the structure of the voice would be determined by parliament after consultations with Indigenous Australians.
On Friday, hundreds of Australians joined wait lists for virtual meetings with Indigenous architects of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, prompting organisers to create many more of the online Start a Yarn sessions than they thought necessary. The Start a Yarn campaign invites Australians to learn more about the events that led to Indigenous Australians’ call for a voice, its aims and principles.
It also offers guidance on how to start conversations about the voice with friends, family and people who might be opposed to altering the Constitution to guarantee the advisory body’s existence. The hosts of the meetings will include elder Pat Anderson, the author of the Little Children Are Sacred report into the abuse of Indigenous children in the Northern Territory.
In Adelaide, almost 250 volunteers will plan the details of the Yes campaign at a two-day “campaign lab” hosted by From the Heart. The organisation, which is renaming itself Yes, will launch in Adelaide on Thursday.
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