Over 25,000 Volunteers Join Official ‘Yes’ Campaign for Constitutional Change

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks at the Yes campaign launch in Adelaide, Australia on Aug. 30, 2023. James Elsby/Getty Images

Over 25,000 volunteers have joined the official “Yes” campaign trail for the Indigenous Voice referendum, in what the Yes23 Campaign called its “strong volunteer base.”

Yes23 Campaign Director Dean Parkin said the growing volunteer base aimed to reach and inform more Australians about a Voice to Parliament, in order to achieve “better outcomes on the ground in Indigenous communities.”

“Our army of volunteers are pounding the pavement everyday, they’re leading conversations in communities and building support for our campaign,” Mr. Parkin said.

“People from across Australia, from all backgrounds and walks of life, are now coming together to champion this cause and help get a successful Yes vote over the line.”

Australians will head to the polls on Oct. 14 to vote on changing the Constitution, including altering the preamble of the founding document to recognise Indigenous people and also to establish a permanent advisory body to the Parliament.

This body would have the power to make “representations” to the executive and legislature on all matters deemed relevant to Indigenous peoples.

The Yes campaign for the change has compelled the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) to kickstart its recruitment drive to find 100,000 workers to service cities, regional and remote areas to help deliver ballot papers for the first referendum in over 20 years.

Workers for the referendum must be Australian citizens and politically and issue-neutral.

Neutrality is defined as “not expressing an opinion or taking actions concerning political parties, political candidates, and their policies being politically neutral.”

The AEC has expressed concern about social media negatively affecting the Indigenous Voice referendum campaign, noting in a statement that “your behaviour on social media before you joined the AEC could affect public trust and confidence. It might be a good time to review your online footprint and remove posts that could compromise your neutrality as an AEC employee.”

Time to Seize the Moment: PM

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it was easy to spread disinformation in referendums and other political campaigns.

“Of course, social media has made that more possible as well,” Mr. Albanese told Nine’s A Current Affair.

When asked if a ‘No’ vote would mean Australians are racist, Mr. Albanese said, “No, it doesn’t. People will make their own decisions based upon what their views are” but added that such a result would be disappointing.

He said putting a referendum to a vote is always a risk but believed that if it could pass, Australia would wake up as a “more unified country.”

“My concern here is that the Republic referendum took place, it’s the last one we had, it was last century, and no one under the age of 40 has ever voted in a referendum before,” he said.

The prime minister said Oct. 14 would mark a “once-in-a-generation opportunity to seize the moment” and make a change.

“When are we going to get around to doing what every other country has done? Every other former colony recognises its first peoples in their founding documents, except for Australia,” he said.

“If you’re a young Indigenous male, you’re more likely to go to jail than university. If you’re a young Indigenous woman, you are more likely to die in childbirth than if you are a non-Indigenous woman. Childbirth, child weights, birth weights, there’s still a gap there. There’s a gap in so many areas.”

No Campaign to Pledge Its Case

‘No’ campaign group Fair Australia questioned whether the country required changing the Constitution when billions in taxpayer funds were already being poured into Indigenous causes.

Backed by Nationals Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, Fair Australia is a grassroots movement of Australians pledging to vote ‘No’ in Labor’s referendum.

“This Voice will not unite us. It will divide us by race,” Ms. Price said. “What’s important to me is that we don’t divide ourselves along the lines of race in this country.”

Fair Australia revealed in a blog that Australian taxpayers spend at least $100 million daily on direct support for Indigenous Australians.

“Instead of wasting time and resources on the divisive Voice, let’s evaluate the effectiveness of what we’re spending now,” the blog said.

“Not only does this eye-watering amount include direct welfare payments to individuals, it includes the money splurged on government programs, grants, non-profits, and lobby groups—an entire professional activist industry meant to help Indigenous Australians.

“And yet, for decades, there has been almost no discernible improvement in the lives of Indigenous Australians.”

Yes Campaign In Full Swing

Meanwhile, the Yes23 campaign has ramped up activities across ACT and Western Australia, with volunteers in the nation’s capital cracking over 1,000 and in Western Australia over 2,400.

“We are incredibly encouraged and energised by the amount of support we are seeing from Canberrans,” Yes23 spokesperson Thomas Mayo said.

“The ACT is punching well above its weight when it comes to volunteer support and it’s providing a huge boost to our campaign.”

The referendum requires a double majority to pass, meaning the ‘yes’ vote must secure a majority of votes at the national level, as well as a majority of votes in a minimum of four out of six states.