Anthony Albanese has refused to placate critics who are demanding he postpone the Voice to Parliament referendum, despite not yet setting a date for the national vote.
The Prime Minister is currently in remote northeastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory for the Garma Festival, the country’s largest indigenous gathering.
He will defend his government’s plan to hold the vote this year in his strongest and most impassioned defense of the vote to be held at the festival on Saturday.
The Prime Minister will invoke the spirit and vision of the late Yolngu elder Yunupingu to promote the “meeting of two worlds.”
He will also point out the disadvantages Indigenous Australians face that our country is’the home of the fair go’, according to a draft speech seen by the Australian.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attended the Garma festival in the remote northeast of Arnhem Land, where he vowed not to postpone or cancel the Voice referendum
The festival, the country’s largest indigenous gathering, was instead used as a moment to celebrate the importance of the vote – though Mr Albanese did not announce the date.
“We will not deny the urgency of this moment,” Mr. Albanese will say.
“We’re not kicking the can on the road.”
He has yet to name a date, but has refused to delay or delay the referendum.
Mr Albanese says there is “nothing to fear, and so much to gain” by voting yes and that the result will be a “once in a generation opportunity for real, overdue and much needed change”.
On the other hand, he fears that a no result will be an acceptance of entrenched Aboriginal backwardness that guarantees “more of the same.”
It would also mean ‘rejecting the form of recognition that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have been asking for’.
‘A gap in life expectancy of eight years in the home goes wild’, Mr Albanese will say.
“A suicide rate twice as high, in the happy country. Shocking rates of illness, in a country with some of the world’s best healthcare. Only four of Closing the Gap’s 19 targets are on target.
“No leader can honestly say that this is good enough. Surely no leader can imagine that change is not desperately and urgently needed.’
The prime minister (pictured on Friday) has vowed not to delay or postpone the referendum
According to the latest polls, Mr Albanese is determined to continue pushing for the vote, despite declining public support for the yes vote.
“We will not give up content for symbolism or retreat to platitudes in expressing progress,” he says.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been clear. The form of constitutional recognition they seek is a vote.
“Not our sympathy, not a symbol – a vehicle for progress, a practical tool to improve their children’s lives.”
“The No campaign is desperate to talk about anything other than the actual question for the Australian people,” said the Prime Minister. Because even they understand that more of the same is not just unacceptable, it’s indefensible.
“We can bring our two worlds together. With our hearts and with our heads… the power to reach for a better Australia is in our hands.”
Mr Albanese will add that the Voice to Parliament would also benefit the Garma festival which ‘would no longer be limited to ‘this one part of Australia and one group of Australians for four days a year’.
“It is shared with our nation, to serve our entire nation,” said the prime minister.
‘To ensure that Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders everywhere have the chance for a better life.
“So instead of the inspiring success stories we see around us as shining exceptions, like stars in the night sky, a new day can come.”
The prime minister confirmed on Friday that he would not use the event to announce the date of the referendum.
In a draft of Mr Albanese’s Saturday speech, obtained by the Australian, he intends to reiterate that change is needed and now is the time to make it happen
He said the festival was an opportunity to discuss the benefits of voting for indigenous peoples.
“Historically, we don’t have 10-week or 12-week referendum campaigns in Australia,” Albanese told reporters.
“There hasn’t been a referendum this century, so I don’t think people want a date announced many months in advance, and then a long daily campaign.”
The referendum takes place between October and December to enshrine the vote in the constitution.
The Prime Minister was later presented with a ceremonial spear, which he held in front of the crowd as they were urged to say ‘yes’ to the vote.
Mr Albanese told reporters he would speak to attendees in Garma about their views on a possible referendum date.
He said that while the vote debate could be seen as divisive among Indigenous Australians, it was necessary to get the constitutional amendment through.
“This is something for First Nations people, but it’s more than that — it’s something for all of us to be lifted up.”
Opposition leader Peter Dutton said he would not be attending the festival and instead chose to visit the people of Arnhem Land privately
Opposition leader Peter Dutton will not be attending the festival, but senior Liberal Angus Taylor said the opposition leader had already visited Arnhem Land and Alice Springs twice, as well as a number of other communities.
“Here’s where you find out what’s really going on — in and between those communities,” Taylor said.
‘I don’t think a festival is the time to see the real problems at play.’
While it is an important occasion, Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley agreed that more than one festival was needed to address the issue.
“Reconciliation and Indigenous Policy is about more than one festival and one day,” she said.
Recent polls for The Voice show that support for the referendum has declined in recent months, but Mr Albanese said the trend did not worry him.
“We will not give up content for symbolism or retreat to platitudes in expressing progress,” he said.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been clear. The form of constitutional recognition they seek is a voice.”