The Yes campaign has been launched in Adelaide with a sizeable donation to kickstart its push for a successful referendum on constitutional recognition for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and a Voice to federal parliament.
Following two days of workshops with volunteers from community, business, and faith groups, the campaign was announced along with , its website that provides a space for volunteer registration, donations and information about the movement.
The Paul Ramsey Foundation has pledged $5 million to the Australians for Indigenous Constitutional Recognition (AICR), which will oversee the fundraising for the campaign and support its advocacy efforts.
Speaking from Adelaide, Quandamooka man and campaign director of From The Heart, Dean Parkin, told NITV he hopes the campaign can be successful at a community grassroots level.
Dean Parkin, Campaign Director for From the Heart campaign attended the Yes Campaign launch in Adelaide. Source: AAP / Dan Himbrecht/AAP Image
“When they walk into that polling booth on referendum day it’s not going to be about political parties, not going to be about governments or prime ministers or anything like that.
“It’s just going to be about individuals saying this is something we want to do for our country.”
'The campaign says it aims to simplify the debate ahead of the vote, hoping to keep people focussed on the issues of recognition and consultation.
“One of the key ones at the moment is just trying to shut out a lot of noise that’s coming from different corners, that are trying to make the issue much more complicated than it should be,” Mr Parkin said.
The Yes 23 website that was launched with the campaign. Credit: Screenshot: Yes23.com.au
The event had no politicians in attendance. Instead, the focus was on community engagement.
It was launched on the same day the South Australian Legislative Council backed the state Labor government's proposed First Nations Voice Bill 2023, which will now move to the lower house in the next parliamentary sitting.
The crowd listening in to official events at the Yes campaign launch in Adelaide. Credit: NITV: Cameron Gooley
“The campaign now has tremendous momentum as we head towards a referendum later this year that offers a chance for a moment of national unity unparalleled in modern Australia,” she said.
Bodies advocating for a No vote have not yet announced any official campaign launches.
'We want real justice': Lidia Thorpe
Independent Victorian Senator Lidia Thorpe, a DjabWurrung Gunnai Gunditjmara woman, criticised the campaign’s ties to corporate Australia on ABC Radio National prior to the launch.
“Their campaign is fantastic, it’s great, its well-funded, they’ve got mining companies backing them, they’ve got the corporates of this world, of this country, backing them,” she said.
“White progressives think they know best for us, and they think that this is a good thing for us, but they haven’t dug deep enough and allowed those grassroots Blak activists to have a say.”
Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe is urging "white progressives" to allow "grassroots Blak activists to have a say."
Senator Thorpe has not yet announced a formal position on the referendum, but she urged voters to listen to activists about their concerns.
“We’re focussing on survival today … and we deserve better than a powerless voice, we need a treaty, we want real power, we want real justice in this country,” she said.
