Readers divided over Paul Kelly’s stirring new anthem If Not Now to back Yes campaign

Australian music legend Paul Kelly’s new anthem to unite the country behind the Voice to Parliament has instead left Aussies divided. Have your say.

Australians appear divided about the move by legendary singer and songwriter Paul Kelly to lend his voice to the Yes campaign with his stirring new song If Not Now.

Kelly, who co-wrote timeless Indigenous anthems From Little Things Big Things Grow with Kev Carmody and Treaty by Yothu Yindi, released the song this week after posting an eloquent short essay titled “Why I’m Voting Yes”.

News Corp readers were quick to respond to the sentiments and Kelly’s declaration of support for the Yes campaign.

“Paul why why go political let people make up their own minds,” said reader David.

“Another reason for me to stay in the ‘No’ camp. A so-called celebrity trying to lecture me how I should vote. Does not want me to make up my mind using my own sensibilities,” said another.

“He’s a brilliant songwriter and singer, but I’m not taking that into consideration when I vote. I’m voting NO,” said another.

Other readers were staunchly supportive.

“Good on you Paul, Yes,” said one reader.

“Paul is a legend in Australia and will have a big influence,” said another.

The revered architect of the Australian soundtrack wrote that not recognising the “gift” of First Nations people to “the land of the fair go” is a “huge hole in our soul.”

“This country is my home. This beautiful country, unique in all the world. Our First Australians looked after it and shaped it for over 60,000 years and, in doing so, developed a rich and complex culture that is a gift to us all,” he wrote.

“A gift that we enjoy every day in sport, art, music, dance, environmental knowledge and philosophy. That this gift and this deep history have not yet been recognised in our founding document seems to me a huge hole in our soul. And a big knock to our idea of ourselves in the land of the fair go.”

Kelly has added his voice to the Yes campaign with If Not Now. Picture: Michael Hili / Supplied.

Kelly said a lack of constitutional recognition had entrenched the “huge and stubborn gap” in health and education opportunities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

The Yes vote would give First Nations people agency and responsibility for working towards closing the gaps in life expectancy and educational and career paths.

“Recognition is not achieved with fine-sounding words and feel-good statements but by promising to listen,” Kelly wrote.

“There is a huge and stubborn gap in health, education and opportunities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. That yawning gap is unfair and diminishes us all. By saying Yes to a voice and listening to it, we can tackle these problems in a more effective way.

“And fairness cuts both ways. Having a voice gives people responsibility as well as agency. Being involved in decisions that impact your life brings with it accountability for the outcomes.”

Kelly addressed the ongoing divisiveness of the referendum campaign and wrote that a No vote would leave Australia “nowhere.”

“Some say that a Yes vote will divide us. But I believe this referendum is an invitation to join together and that saying yes will make us a more complete nation,” he wrote.

“No leaves us nowhere, Yes breathes in new air”.

His song follows the release last month of their song Speak To Me in support of the Yes campaign.

Kelly will perform If Not Now at the Uluru Dialogue Yes campaign launch by Co-Chairs Pat Anderson and Professor Megan Davis at the Corner Hotel in Melbourne on Sunday.

Originally published as Readers divided over Paul Kelly’s stirring new anthem If Not Now to back Yes campaign