Yes, campaigner Noel Pearson has warned that Indigenous people are terrified of the consequences if the referendum fails to back Vote to Parliament.
In a speech to the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday, he implored Australia to support The Voice and unite the entire country with its indigenous people.
“We would be untruthful if we did not say that we have a mixture of hope and terror about the response to this referendum,” he said.
‘There are so few of us, and there are so many of you. We are three percent and you are 97 percent.
‘Australians tend not to know our cultures and languages - the things that make us the same as you, and the things that make us so unfamiliar.
‘My people are good people. They have done nothing that deserves scorn and disdain. They are not to be feared or despised.
“They have suffered a lot, let’s not prolong the alienation. They have a lot to contribute to their country, if only they get the chance.”
Yes, campaigner Noel Pearson has said Indigenous people are terrified the Voice referendum will be bitterly divisive if it fails
Speaking to the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday, Noel Pearson (pictured with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese) pleaded with Australia to support the Voice to Parliament
The indigenous activist said white Australia was not to blame for the country’s troubled past, but insisted: ‘Neither are we.
‘Our perceived inferiority is no justification for that history. Not then, not now. There will be no peace dividend if we vote no.
‘There is only the constant bitterness of endless debate, the severe penalty of division, which will be paid in shame and mutual distrust.
“On October 14, we, the Australian people, face a choice, a choice between crossing the bridge into our future or remaining mired in the past.
“No one wants the invitation of friendship and love to go unanswered.”
He branded the No campaign’s “misinformation” as “nonsense”, which he said had used scare stories to reinforce fear in the community.
“Not a square inch of land has been lost as a result of Mabo (1992 Court Ruling on Land Rights and Indigenous Property),” he said.
“All these fear campaigns are just saying things that never happened. No one has lost land.
“The Supreme Court is absolutely right. Now we have an opportunity for the Australian people to get it right on the Constitution.”
He said the Voice would help improve health outcomes for Indigenous people.
“This is a problem that only a Voice can overcome,” he said.
‘To ensure that people who represent us – who make laws about us, who shape much of the reality of our lives – listen to our advice and have the opportunity to benefit from the power of our ideas.
‘Rheumatic heart disease causes lifelong damage to the valves around a child’s heart.
‘But it is the lifelong damage to the ears of our country’s decision-makers that has kept this disease prowling around Cape York, decades after it was eradicated elsewhere in mainstream Australia and around the world.
‘It is the disease of a people who have spoken but have not been heard.
‘No will get us nowhere. When it comes to tackling rheumatic heart disease, Yes makes it possible. That’s why your answer is so important to us.’
The indigenous activist said white Australia was not to blame for the country’s troubled past, but insisted: ‘Neither are we’
Noel Pearson said the Voice would help improve health outcomes for Indigenous people
He added, “You might sometimes feel that it would have been easier never to extend the hand of invitation from your heart.
“But whether it was out of naivete or faith, we had to ask all those questions.
‘Will you join us on this journey to a better future? It is time to take our rightful place in our own country.
“Allow us to give our people the power to take charge of our children, our families and the destiny of our people. We have many talents and gifts to contribute.
‘If you vote ‘Yes’, you will cross the bridge towards peace. Voting no is not a neutral choice.
‘Voting no is an active choice that takes us nowhere, but often leaves us stuck in the Neverland that exists between two people who love the same homeland but have not yet learned to love each other.’
He said the nation could still use the referendum to rally its “mutual love for the country” – if not its people – and move forward into the future.
“It’s not love for each other that connects us,” he said. ‘It is our mutual love for country that unites us. We don’t need mutual affection for this referendum to pass.
“Our kids and big kids are more likely to share affection between them than we are.
“Because too many of us grew up as strangers. But if you take your children to get to know our children, they will all be better for it.
“That’s the promise of the future… we want Australia to be kinder to our children.”
He said even two centuries after colonization, the country’s indigenous people still did not have the same rights as New Zealand’s Maoris.
And he said respect for indigenous people rarely went beyond admiring their sporting prowess.
“We don’t have enough shared stories of loyalty, friendship and camaraderie,” he said.
‘Which helmsman’s ship was among our Diggers during the World War was not much known and was still not recognized.
“Australians have always admired our sporting and cultural heroes and it is no wonder we are proud of their abilities and enjoy your respect.
‘But admiration is not what I’m talking about here. It is the love of country.’
He said the nation could still use the referendum to rally its “mutual love for the country,” if not its people, and move forward into the future.
He criticized the No campaign for not offering better alternatives, focusing instead on simply preventing the Yes vote from winning by waging a culture war.
“I don’t see any solutions from the no camp,” he said.
‘No one has a solution for rheumatic heart disease. No one has a solution to the problems our people face.
“What they want is to simply kill the Voice proposal and let the country fester around culture war issues instead of real issues.
“And that’s a tragic turn of events.”