‘A gamechanger’: yes campaign launches nationwide voice events as momentum builds ahead of Naidoc Week | Indigenous voice to parliament #gamechanger #campaign #launches #nationwide #voice #events #momentum #builds #ahead #Naidoc #Week #Indigenous #voice #parliament

Two dozen major referendum events nationwide this weekend will be a “gamechanger” for the voice, says the director of Yes23, who is confident support will keep rising once grassroots campaigning fully activates in coming weeks.

After a week campaigning across the Kimberley region, Dean Parkin said the voice was crucial to help remote Indigenous communities that were being ignored. He maintained the campaign had the right message and strategy to win the referendum.

“The messaging – when we get out there and have the yarn with people – it works,” Parkin said.

“We’ve talked for a long time about taking the conversation out of Canberra, and that’s what we’re doing.”

On Sunday Yes23 hosts its Come Together For Yes events, unofficially launching the next phase of its campaign at the start of Naidoc Week; from smaller gatherings at community centres and local markets, to a football tournament in Darwin and major events in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Parkin, a Quandamooka man, said the events were a larger version of the campaign’s focus on small local conversations, where people can talk to campaigners and ask questions.

“It’s a gamechanger for the conversation,” he said.

“We’re finding an underlying enormous amount of goodwill. A lot of people want to know more information, we’re having conversations about the needs of communities, and how they will be represented at the national level.”

The campaign has faced questions from supporters and government about its energy and strategy; the Yes23 director conceded the polls were tightening, but said the tide would turn back in their favour.

“The messaging works. The conversational style works, giving people the ability to ask questions. The challenge is getting that more broadly experienced across communities,” he said.

“It’s about reach, not messaging. That’s been clear to me in recent days.”

Parkin’s Kimberley trip included remote communities in Falls Creek, Kununurra and Fitzroy Crossing. He said Indigenous residents wanted to learn about the voice, and pointed to the ongoing effects from devastating January floods in the region as another issue the voice could assist with.

“People talked about challenges facing young people in Fitzroy Crossing, there’s frustration there because they are quite complex. It’s not just issues on the street, it’s impacted by insufficient and overcrowded housing, and being smashed by a terrible flood has exacerbated those issues,” Parkin said.

“It’s about understanding the complexities facing communities. People from the outside will see this as a law and order issue, but you’ve got to understand it’s about getting to housing issues.

“Getting that intelligence will inform the work of the voice, and help the parliament to see these issues differently … People in these remote communities are often sidelined and ignored.”

Jade Ritchie, a yes campaigner from the Bunda clan of the Gooreng Gooreng nation, has spent the week in remote Queensland.

“Communities out here are struggling,” she said from an airport at Doomadgee, near the Northern Territory border.

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“They’re lobbying for clean water, roads that don’t ruin their vehicles, the same education for their children as everyone else – these are the things people want to be heard on.”

Ritchie, a Queenslander, has been focusing on her home state, which many expect to register a strong no vote. She said Yes23’s campaign wouldn’t ignore any state.

“The referendum will be won on conversations, when people get the right information – and that’s what we’ll be doing,” she said.

This Sunday July 2, we’re coming together for ‘Yes’ with over 25 family-friendly events nationwide.

Events will be taking place all over Australia in a celebration of belonging, as we move towards constitutional recognition.

Head to https://t.co/ElJkVCdYVS to RSVP! pic.twitter.com/IdzSuDOtUZ

— Yes23 (@yes23au) June 29, 2023

The yes campaign believes it will outpace the no campaign in the “ground game” of community action like doorknocking and public events, pointing to its large volunteer base and efforts of unions, the Labor and Greens party machines, and 500 supporter organisations including charities and sporting codes.

The yes campaign spent big on social media ads last week, putting $122,700 into ads from 21 to 27 June – more than a quarter of its entire campaign ad spend ($399,700) in just seven days.

In contrast, the main no campaign organisation, Fair Australia, has spent $122,894 total on Facebook ads since launching in February, and $8,700 in the past week.

The new Yes23 ads are targeted overwhelmingly at New South Wales and Victoria, the largest states and those expected to trend yes; many are targeted specifically at women, but ads featuring sporting codes’ support were targeted at men.

Fair Australia’s ads have been targeted at Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia.

Many in the government and yes campaign expect a referendum on 14 October. The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has been widely tipped to announce the date in August.


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