Sunrise host Nat Barr says what many Aussies are thinking about The Voice

Sunrise presenter Natalie Barr has expressed her concerns about the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum, saying Australians want to recognize First Nations people but don’t understand how the mechanism will work.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is expected to announce the official date of the referendum today as he visits Adelaide in the must-win state of South Australia, with speculation in favor of October 14.

“I think a lot of people really don’t get it,” Barr said.

The announcement of the date of the referendum will trigger six weeks of intense campaigning from the yes and no camps.

Speaking to Home Secretary Claire O’Neil and Shadow Finance Minister Jane Hume on Wednesday, Barr said she hoped the government would use that period to better inform Australians about the details surrounding the plan.

“As much as some people would like to recognize Indigenous Australians in the Constitution, you can’t deny that a lot of people just don’t understand this,” Barr said.

“A lot of people are saying, wait a minute, how many people will be involved, how will the vote be — all the details.”

The referendum will ask Australians to constitutionally enshrine an Indigenous advisory body to parliament known as the Voice, but the details will come in the form of subsequent legislation.

Barr asked Ms O’Neil whether the mammoth task of getting Australians on board was too great for a month-and-a-half campaign, with the latest polls looking unfavorable.

“It’s going to create another layer of bureaucracy — all that stuff — do you think you can explain that in six weeks,” Barr said.

“We must understand it too.”

Ms O’Neil said previous governments had tried ‘everything else’ but there was still a worrying social divide between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians and the Voice was the way to solve that.

“What I would like to say to Australians is… Firstly, this is coming from first nations people, these are not politicians who came up with this,” she said.

‘Why is there a nine-year life expectancy gap between first nations and non-first nations Australians’

“Why are Indigenous mothers three times more likely to die in childbirth?”

These are just some of the appalling differences in living standards between first nations, Australians and others.

“And we’ve tried everything else.

“I mean, we spent money on this problem. We have created people within the government to deal with it, but that doesn’t work.’

“People from the first nations have said that we want a vote in parliament and that is the way to solve these problems.”

Nasty If the referendum passes, it must receive a double majority, meaning the majority of Australians and also the majority of states must vote yes.

Victoria is steady in her support for the proposal, but NSW seems to be leaning towards the no camp.

Queensland and WA are firmly in the no camp in the polls.

In the crucial state of South Australia, a new survey of 605 voters by think tank The Australia Institute shows that 43 percent support the Indigenous vote in parliament, while 39 percent are against.

The undecided 18 percent were evenly split in their views, putting ‘yes’ ahead at 52-48.

Earlier polls had predicted ‘no’ in South Africa.

Separate polls from another think tank, the Institute of Public Affairs, show that Tasmania, another major swing state, is leaning “no.”

The survey of 1,156 voters in the state found that 53 percent planned to vote “no,” while another 42 percent were in favor.

Another five percent say they have not yet made a decision.

‘Yes’ supporters will launch campaigns across the country, including door knocks and street walks.

Former Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will be handing out flyers in Sydney along with Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek and ‘yes’ volunteers.

In Tasmania, Liberal MP Bridget Archer takes to the streets to encourage voters to support the bill.

Greens leader Adam Bandt and NDIS Minister Bill Shorten will talk to commuters in Melbourne’s outback.

In other polls, the ‘yes’ vote across the country is trailing and on a downward trend, but campaigners say the mood on the ground is more hopeful.

In Adelaide, Indigenous activist Noel Pearson said the state would be critical of the referendum.

“It’s really a pivot, it’s between the eastern states that say ‘yes’ very firmly and the states that are still thinking about what they’re going to do in this referendum,” he said.

Proponents of the vote are facing an uphill battle, with the vast majority of Australian referendums failing and the federal opposition campaigning heavily against the constitutional amendment.

The ‘no’ campaign has made the vote legally risky and divisive along racial lines.

Former Prime Minister John Howard warned that a successful voting referendum would lead to calls for a treaty.

“We have no pacts with bits of ourselves and it just needs to be said to be realized as a complete absurdity,” he told Sky News.

“Treaties are made between sovereign nations, we have treaties with other countries.”