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.”

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.’

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.”

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.

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.