Yes vote hopefuls sing out their voices with Paul Kelly and The Farnham Band
Peter Dutton’s jab that John Farnham’s line ‘you’re the voice, try to understand it’ is all too fitting didn’t rain on the Yes camp’s parade on Sunday night.
A buzzing crowd of hundreds of Yes supporters – including Australian rocker Paul Kelly and the Farnham Band – gathered on Sunday night at Richmond’s iconic Corner Hotel to lift their spirits and celebrate the debut of a national pro-Indigenous voice to parliament and executive government advertising campaign set to You’re the Voice.
Following the announcement that the John Farnham classic would be used as the theme for the Yes campaign, Opposition leader Peter Dutton pointed to the irony in one of the lyrics.
“In a sense, it’s the appropriate theme song for the Yes campaign, because remember that the key line in the lyrics there is, you know, ‘you’re the voice, try to understand it’,” he told Sky News on Sunday.
“I honestly don’t think most Australians understand it. And they want to be informed.”
But the Liberal leader’s comments didn’t get the Yes camp down, as at 7pm on the Sunday night the room fell quiet to watch the premiere of the message that would be broadcast to Australians on Monday.
The History is Calling event, hosted by Uluru Dialogue Co-Chairs Pat Anderson AO and Professor Megan Davis, was a star-studded affair with singer-songwriter Paul Kelly present to perform his new song ‘If Not Now’ to an emotional crowd, its lyrics echoing much of what Anthony Albanese has said in his crusade for a Yes outcome.
“It’s a simple proposition to join the new and old,” Kelly sang to the Melbourne crowd, “A chance to make our country larger in its soul.”
Professor Diane Kerr – known among the group as “Aunty Di” – delivered a moving welcome to country where she paid tribute to her ancestors and looked to the future.
“I firmly believe if we understand each other that we can live in harmony. When we live in harmony, we eradicate racism and stigma. And we pave the way for our young ones that can live in peace and walk our streets without fear of any harm and they can’t do that at the moment,” she said.
“So we need to stand up for them. They need a better future and the way to do this is to have the voice.”
John Farnham’s son Robert said his father was proud to offer his song and be part of the campaign in the midst of a rough year for his health.
“He’s doing great. He’s happy. He’s just amazed by all the love and support … to be able to sort of contribute to such an amazing part of history, I think it’s just a huge thing for him on a personal level as well as the rest of us,” he said.
TV screen icon Magda Szubanski made a surprise appearance where she channelled her Kath & Kim character Sharon Strzelecki.
“I hope you feel the millions of us that do love and care and support you. I can tell you right now there’s a whole heap of LGBTQIA people who have f**king got your back.”
She jokingly promised a pash to “anyone who spends $100” at the event’s merchandise table.
Traditional Indigenous singer and didgeridoo player Mitch Tambo and the Farnham band closed out the night with a performance of You’re the Voice in Gamilaraay language.
Professor Megan Davis, a constitutional law expert, rejected the Liberal leader’s offer to hold a referendum to recognise Indigenous people in the Constitution if the voice referendum fails as she said the change would be purely symbolic.
“There’s no use going to a referendum if it’s not going to change the daily lives of First Nations people,” she said at a voice event on Sunday morning ahead of the ad’s launch.
“And there’s zero evidence anywhere in the world that a statement of recognition changes anything, so that’s my response.”
She said “Trump-ian misinformation” had come for the voice and has made the campaign for a Yes vote harder.
“Electoral experts and others have said to us that they expected this avalanche of Trump-ian misinformation to come up in the 2022 election,” she said, “It didn’t come then, it’s come for our referendum now.”
“We are now in that era. The Trump-ian era has arrived on Australian shores.”
Australians vote on the Indigenous voice to parliament and the executive constitutional referendum question on October 14.
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