There is “nothing to fear and everything to gain” from an Indigenous voice to parliament, Anthony Albanese has said at the Garma festival in Arnhem Land on Saturday, in his strongest pitch yet for Australians to vote yes in the upcoming referendum.
The prime minister promised to stay the course on the vote, due between September and December this year.
“There will be no delaying or deferring this referendum,” Albanese said in his address to the festival, though he again ruled out announcing the date any time soon.
“We will not deny the urgency of this moment. We will not kick the can down the road. We will not abandon substance for symbolism, or retreat to platitudes at the expense of progress.”
Albanese was scathing about no campaigners, saying they are “desperate to talk about anything but the actual question”.
A no vote would lead to “more of the same”, he said, “accepting that what we have is somehow good enough: an eight-year gap in life expectancy, in the home of the fair go; a suicide rate twice as high, in the lucky country; shocking rates of disease, in a nation with some of the world’s best healthcare; only four out of 19 Closing the Gap targets on track.
“Surely no leader can honestly say this is good enough. Surely no leader can pretend ‘it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. Surely no leader can imagine that change is not desperately and urgently needed.
“And that’s why, with every passing day, it becomes more and more obvious that the no campaign are desperate to talk about anything but the actual question before the Australian people – because even they understand that more of the same is not just unacceptable, it is indefensible.”
He rejected calls “from some in the no camp” – including members of the opposition – for a legislated voice, saying it was not what Indigenous people had asked for, and was an admission that a voice is needed.
The Northern Territory Country Liberal party senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has said among her reasons for voting no was she doesn’t believe that this entity needs to be constitutionally enshrined.
“If it is actually as good as the government suggests it’s going to be, then it could be legislated,” Price said in July.
But in Saturday’s speech Albanese dismissed this approach.
“Their commitment to legislate a voice also undermines every other argument they make against it,” he said.
“Clearly they acknowledge it is needed – otherwise why legislate it?
“Clearly they recognise it will make a positive difference – otherwise why legislate it?
“Clearly they don’t see it as divisive or radical or any of the other noise and confusion they are seeking to inject into the referendum – otherwise why legislate it?”
A record 17 million-plus voters have enrolled to vote in the referendum – the highest number in Australian history.
