Australians of the Year – including Grace Tame and Adam Goodes – make a last ditch bid to save the Voice to Parliament with a letter begging voters to support Yes

More than 20 former and current Australians of the Year have signed a letter in support of Indigenous Voice in Parliament as the referendum looks set to fail.

The endorsement from prominent Australians including Grace Tame, John Farnham and former Australia Day Council chairman Adam Gilchrist comes just three days before the referendum vote on Saturday.

The letter described the referendum as a ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity to repair the ‘devastating impact’ of colonization on the lives of Indigenous Australians.

“The effective exclusion of Indigenous voices from decision-making has been at best unhelpful and costly and, at worst, harmful, blocking any meaningful progress,” they said.

“There is overwhelming evidence that, when given a voice, services are effective and lead to improved outcomes, as was the case during the Covid pandemic.”

“The Voice is about ensuring our First Nations people have a real say on the issues that affect their lives.

“A ‘Yes’ vote is a step towards a more united and cohesive nation, mindful of the past and looking together to the future.”

Grace Tame (above), Australian of the Year 2021, was one of more than 20 former and current Australians of the Year to sign a letter of support for Indigenous Voice in Parliament.

Grace Tame (above), Australian of the Year 2021, was one of more than 20 former and current Australians of the Year to sign a letter of support for Indigenous Voice in Parliament.

In the letter, former AFL player Adam Goodes (above) said:

In the letter, former AFL player Adam Goodes (above) said: “It is time for our voices to be heard so that we have a say in the policies and laws that affect our families and communities.”

The signatories of the letter are: Dylan AlcottRosie Batty, Taryn Brumfitt, Rob de Castella, Mick Dodson, Peter Doherty, John FarnhamTim Flannery, Cathy Freeman, Adam Goodes, Evonne Goolagong, Shane Gould, Richard Harris, Patrick McGorry, Simon McKeon, David Morrison, Gustav Nossal, Lowitja O’Donoghue, Keith Potger, Dick Smith, Fiona Stanley, Grace TameFiona Wood and John Yu.

Former AFL player Adam Goodes, who was named Australian of the Year in 2014, said a successful Yes vote would help Indigenous communities at a grassroots level.

“It is time for Indigenous Australians to be enshrined in the Constitution as the first peoples of our nation. It’s time for our voices to be heard so that we have a say in the policies and laws that affect our families and communities,” he said.

“We have big problems at the grassroots level and to deal with them we need grassroots solutions. And we will achieve this only by voting yes for the Voice.’

Indigenous and 1971 Australian tennis player Evonne Goolagong Cawley agreed, saying more Indigenous representation in Parliament could have been life-changing for her family.

“Three members of my family have passed away prematurely, robbed of years of life by preventable heart disease. This was the past and it is the cruel reality of the present – but on October 14 we can make sure it is not the future,” she said.

“This referendum is a direct request from Aboriginal people. We want all Australians to vote yes to recognition, yes to listening and yes to give Australia our best chance yet to close the gap.’

Australians will head to the polls on Saturday, October 14, to vote in the Vote referendum (pictured, Yes campaigners)

Australians will head to the polls on Saturday, October 14, to vote in the Vote referendum (pictured, Yes campaigners)

Wheelchair tennis player Dylan Alcott (above), Australian of the Year 2022, has signed his support for a Voice

Wheelchair tennis player Dylan Alcott (above), Australian of the Year 2022, has signed his support for a Voice

If 50 per cent of Australians and a majority of residents in 50 per cent of states vote Yes on October 14, a new chapter entitled Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples will be added to the Constitution.

It will read: “In recognition of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Peoples of Australia:

‘There shall be one body, to be called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice;

‘The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice may make representations to Parliament and the Commonwealth Executive Government on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples;

“Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws relating to matters relating to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, including its composition, functions, powers and procedures.”

To pass, votes

To pass, Yes votes need 50 per cent of Australians and 50 per cent of states to back the Voice (pictured, activists in Melbourne)

Fiona Stanley, an epidemiologist and 2003 Australian of the Year, believes tracking disease in her work has given her a unique insight into Indigenous issues and what can help.

“I’ve spent nearly 40 years of my life working with Indigenous researchers fighting childhood diseases and illnesses, and that experience has made me a huge supporter of Voice,” she said.

“I’ve been in countless indigenous communities and in every one of them Aboriginal people make and have the best solutions to their problems.

“Even if you don’t care about humanity or social justice, if you just want cost-effective solutions, then support the Voice.”

The Vote for Parliament referendum is on track to lose all six states and win just 22 of the 151 constituencies in Australia’s federal parliament, according to modeling by an internationally acclaimed pollster.

UK-based research group Focal Data predicts the nation will vote No by 61 per cent to the Yes campaign’s 39 per cent in Saturday’s referendum, after polling 4,500 Australians and modeling the outcome in each state.

Just 22 electorates (darkest purple on the map) are on track to vote Yes in the upcoming Indigenous Voice for Parliament referendum, according to a survey by an international polling group, but there are a further 15 electorates (light purple on map) who are very close to a Yes vote with 47 percent support or more

Just 22 electorates (darkest purple on the map) are on track to vote Yes in the upcoming Indigenous Voice for Parliament referendum, according to a survey by an international polling group, but there are a further 15 electorates (light purple on map) who are very close to a Yes vote with 47 percent support or more

The only Yes seats are in the inner cities of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane – including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s and Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek’s Grayndler and Sydney seats.

The Yes campaign has also won Greens-held strongholds, including Adam Bandt’s electorate of Melbourne and the south-east Queensland seats of Brisbane and Griffith, which were won by Greens new gun Stephen Bates and Max Chandler-Mather in the last election.

But 129 of the total 151 seats in the House of Representatives are on track to vote No, according to poll estimates, including a string of electorates in Sydney – including Warringah on the northern beaches and Wentworth in the eastern suburbs.

READ THE FULL LETTER

As Australians of the Year, past and present, we wish to express our heartfelt support for a constitutionally enshrined Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice and respectfully urge Australians to vote ‘Yes’ in the upcoming referendum on October 14.

We respect the generous invitation made within the Uluru Declaration from the Heart to come together to recognize Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Australian Constitution and to ensure they have a voice in government decision-making, particularly on matters that affect their daily lives. the realities.

The Uluru Declaration responds with generosity and love to more than two centuries of dispossession, pain and suffering.

As the First Peoples of this nation, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ enduring connection to Australia stretches back 60,000 years and represents the unique, intrinsic essence of our past, present and future.

This truth has been ignored and denied until the very recent past, and now we are at a fork in the road.

We must take the high road to inclusiveness and respect. The low road leads us to an embarrassing dead end, with unimaginable consequences for our national identity and self-respect.

Many other nations with colonial histories similar to ours, notably Canada, Norway and New Zealand have already taken the high road.

So we know that a mutually beneficial outcome is possible. Since colonisation, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have been subjected to 235 years of destructive or ineffective policies which have had devastating impacts on cultural integrity and a range of social and health outcomes.

The effective exclusion of indigenous voices from decision-making has been at best useless and costly and at worst harmful, blocking any meaningful progress.

There is overwhelming evidence that, when given a voice, services are effective and lead to improved outcomes, as was the case during the Covid pandemic.

Voice is about ensuring our First Nations people have a real say in the issues that affect their lives.

For too long they have been worse than powerless. A ‘Yes’ vote in this referendum represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to ensure inclusion and respect, to empower, make long-overdue progress towards closing the gap and finally unite us all as Australians in a level playing field.

It is not about giving priority to a community, but about reducing a severe and unacceptable level of disadvantage and discrimination. A “Yes” vote is a step towards a more united and cohesive nation, mindful of the past and looking to the future together.

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