Queensland activist Wayne Wharton targets Albanese in campaign to quash the voice

Anthony Albanese’s electorate has been targeted by one of Queensland’s most popular grassroots Aboriginal activists.

Wayne Wharton in Marrickville. Picture: John Feder/The Australian

Anthony Albanese has been targeted by one of Queensland’s veteran Aboriginal activists, Wayne Wharton, who spent the weekend campaigning against the voice across the Prime Minister’s Sydney seat.

The traditional owner and Kooma man from Cunnamulla in western Queensland accused Mr Albanese and the government of lying to Australian voters about the voice, which he believes is ­opposed by a majority of Indigenous people.

Mr Wharton and a group of eight fellow campaigners travelled to Sydney to letterbox-drop thousands of “vote no” flyers to the homes of voters in Mr Albanese’s electorate of Grayndler, as well as across the neighbouring electorate of Barton, held by Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney.

Banners proclaiming “F..k your voice, it’s not ours” hung ­behind the group as its members met people at markets and shops.

“How do 16 million people get to decide how 800,000 of us live?” Mr Wharton said.

“On false information, they are going to go to the polls to create a mechanism that disempowers the sovereignty of First Nations people. These people have the right to know what the majority of blackfellas out there actually want.”

Prominent Indigenous activist Wayne Wharton has travelled to NSW to letterbox drop for the No campaign against the Voice in Anthony Albanese and Linda Burney's Sydney electorates. Picture: John Feder/The Australian

Mr Wharton, a member of the Sovereign Embassies Working Group, warned the voice in its current form would take away self-determination by giving power to a panel of “cherrypicked black­fellas”.

“The first law that we grow up with when we are taught to live in this county is that we don’t talk about other people’s country,” he said.

“These people choose to ­ignore in return for six-figure fees, and positions and social security … they will be cherrypicked ­blackfellas that sing the song the government or any other ­governments want to hear.”  Mr Wharton believes a treaty is the better step towards reconciliation and is getting others to put their name to a petition in support of that.

Volunteer Judulu hands out material at the Marrickville market. Picture: John Feder/The Australian

The trip to Sydney is the first in a series of roadshows Mr Wharton hopes to conduct in the lead-up to a referendum, spurred forward by the “really positive” and “encouraging” reception at Marrickville train station, markets, local shopping centres and the Redfern Festival.

“People have been saying to us that they are concerned about the lack of information and the lack of security and detail about First ­Nations peoples’ rights,” Mr Wharton said.

“That’s what is coming out loud and clear in our two days here. That’s pretty amazing, I didn’t think it was so obvious.

“They say they appreciated us coming down here to have the conversation because they were believing that they were doing the right thing by supporting the yes vote, to find out that they were tightening the rope.

“It's not fair that people should be put in that position.”

The campaigner now has his sights on Melbourne, held by Greens leader Adam Bandt and independent MP Zali Steggall’s Sydney seat of Warringah, which the group hopes to visit in the coming months.

Wayne Wharton hands out material at the Marrickville market. Picture: John Feder/The Australian

The Indigenous voice to parliament has been contentious among First Nations communities. Invasion Day rallies nationwide on January 26 became a platform for the grassroots No campaign.

The Queensland activist’s campaign is separate from that being run by independent senator Lidia Thorpe, although he backs her stand.

The former Greens senator resigned from the party last month after disagreeing with its stance on the voice, moving to the Senate crossbench to stand for black sovereignty.

“The Greens should be very ashamed of themselves,” Mr Wharton said.

“Especially the leader. If anyone has to look themselves in the mirror, it should be him.”