A member of the peak Indigenous group supporting a voice to parliament says the proposal is backed by First Nations people and urges Australians to educate themselves about the referendum.
Invasion Day rallies across the country swung the debate from changing the date to an Indigenous voice to parliament.
Tens of thousands of people attended the nationwide protests, where many prominent speakers campaigned against the voice.
However, research conducted by the Referendum Working Group showed 80 per cent of Indigenous people surveyed wanted the reform.
Indigenous health advocate Pat Anderson, a member of the working group, said the polls showed high levels of support, despite loud objections by a minority.
“A lot of Aboriginal people, the people that we spoke to in the dialogues and who we continue to speak to – are in fact the voiceless (and) they don’t have the huge megaphone that was used yesterday,” she said on Friday.
“Our call is to save our families and our communities from continuing disadvantage.”
At a rally in Melbourne on Thursday, Greens senator Lidia Thorpe said Indigenous people deserved more than just a voice to parliament.
Senator Thorpe said she would not support the voice unless there was a guarantee that Indigenous sovereignty would not be ceded.
In Canberra, Ngambri and Ngunnawal woman Leah House labelled the proposed voice to parliament as “crumbs” and a distraction from the goal of Indigenous sovereignty.
But Ms Anderson said a voice to parliament was the only way governments would start listening to the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
“There’s no other place for us to go to begin to deal with this disadvantage that plagues us, families, generation after generation,” she said.
“With a First Nations voice speaking with the protection of the constitution, governments of the day will be able to make better decisions about how to deal with this.
“A successful referendum will change the narrative of Australia.”
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton continues to call for more details on the Indigenous voice but has agreed to attend a Referendum Working Group meeting.
Liberal frontbencher Simon Birmingham warned polls had been wrong before and urged the government to provide more information about how the voice would work in practice.
“We are right to want to see and expect detail because that’s what Australians want when they go to vote,” he said.
“I’m very concerned that Australians are confused about what is being put forward and that the government is struggling to be able to address that level of confusion.”
Ms Anderson said voters would be able to make an informed decision at the ballot box, but she urged people to also take time themselves to find out more about the proposal.
She called opposition to the voice based on a lack of detail “mischievous”.
“It’s really up to the Australian public to as well as not be passive here and inform themselves.
“This is the most important decision this generation is going to make and it will speak to what kind of a country we are, so there’s a lot at stake.”
Source: AAP
