The Voice: One shot to make history

“We feel there will only be one shot at this, one opportunity to try to secure this change and make history."

“We feel there will only be one shot at this, one opportunity to try to secure this change and make history."

While some of Australia’s most ­influential Aboriginal leaders went to Canberra politicians to push for a constitutionally ­enshrined Indigenous voice, 25-year-old Allira Davis took a different path. She went to league matches and on to the streets to talk to young voters.

Ms Davis leads a nationwide committee of 80 young Indigenous people – known as Uluru Youth – who believe Australians aged 18 to 30 are key to the political campaign for an Indigenous voice in the Constitution. Uluru Youth oversees a burgeoning network of young supporters – Indigenous and non-Indigenous – in every state and territory. These are people who share the aims of the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart, including its call for a voice in the Constitution, and are ready to ­mobilise during the federal election campaign.

Allira Davis. Source: Instagram: @alliradavis

Uluru Youth has a smart social media campaign, but much of its work has been face-to-face with fellow Australians at events called “activations”. Some of the simplest events have been the most effective: for the past four years, Uluru Youth volunteers have held a stall at NRL All Stars matches to give away Uluru Statement from the Heart merchandise and explain the Uluru Statement to anyone with questions. Slowly, Ms Davis says she has watched as understanding and support grow.

“More Australians support what we are working for and our own mob want to help, which is ­really nice,” Ms Davis said.

“A lot of people are on-board now after talking and listening and asking questions. It is amazing to see that kind of progress.

“We just describe what the Uluru Statement is and the ­reforms we are trying to achieve. People do come up to us at the game and we just talk to them. It is a good way to do it.”

Ms Davis met about 40 fellow members of Uluru Youth in Cairns on Thursday ahead of its annual summit. That meeting will be followed on Saturday by the biggest gathering of Indigenous leaders since 250 delegates released the Uluru Statement from the Heart on May 26, 2017.

And that’s a wrap! Our Uluru Youth spent the weekend sharing the invitation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart at the NRL All stars game. Our motto for the event was “Don’t Be Shame, Be game”✊🏽 #uluruyouth #staytrue2uluru pic.twitter.com/SwrGugh1a1

— ulurustatement (@ulurustatement) February 13, 2022

In Cairns on Thursday, Ms Davis said everyone was talking about Labor’s recent revelation that if it wins the coming election it might not hold a referendum on the voice in the first term of parliament as promised.

Cape York Institute founder Noel Pearson responded emphatically to that news on Wednesday, warning Labor that it risked ­repeating the mistake Kevin Rudd made in 2007 when he deferred constitutional recognition for ­Indigenous Australians to a second term. It never happened.

“We feel there will only be one shot at this, one opportunity to try to secure this change and make history,” Ms Davis said.

“Our young people are getting very ­excited and nervous about it.”

Polling about attitudes to the Indigenous voice indicate Uluru Youth is tapping a rich vein by appealing to Australia’s youngest voters. Francis Markham, a researcher at the Australian National University’s Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, conducted the first analysis of polling on a constitutionally enshrined voice in 2020 and believes support is strong ­nationwide. He concluded that overall support had climbed from 44 to 56 per cent.

He said among non-Indigenous Australians young people were the most likely to vote yes. “If we do get to the point where there is going to be a referendum it will be the young people who are the most supportive,” he said.