Queenslanders have been urged to approach the voice referendum as “the ultimate State of Origin”, with the Cape York Indigenous leader Noel Pearson describing the state as “ground zero” for the campaign.
As well as requiring an overall majority of Australians to back the referendum, the yes campaign also needs to carry a majority of states, with some polls suggesting Queensland could be a barrier to that occurring.
Pearson told a Queensland Media Club event on Monday he remains confident the referendum will be successful despite a slide in support, with his home state crucial to its overall chances.
“Queensland is ground zero … Eddie Mabo is a Queenslander,” Pearson said.
“We would like our home state to [come] back us.
“This is the ultimate State of Origin, this referendum … and not for a minute do I believe this state is lost.”
Pearson’s comments come as the federal opposition leader, Peter Dutton, expressed his opposition to the voice on Saturday and accused the prime minister of “dividing Australians”.
The Queensland LNP leader, David Crisafulli, has also expressed his opposition to the voice while backing the state government’s path to treaty legislation.
Pearson said the vote on the voice was more important than the 1967 referendum which gave the federal parliament the power to make laws about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and saw them recorded in the census for the first time.
“What we do know is momentous. It’s our one chance,” he said.
“It falls to the current generation to make history, to seize history … We can resolve this struggle. It’s within our reach.”
Pearson said the referendum was about giving Indigenous people a seat at the table to provide advice on issues that directly affect them.
It was time to block out the negativity and cynical “politics” of the referendum and focus on friendship and hope, he said.
“This referendum is about the future of Australia. It’s not an election. We need to kind of leave, temporarily put aside, our political preferences and see ourselves as Australians here.
“Our message of unity and trust and friendship will prevail over the voices of fear and contempt.”
Wayne Butcher, the mayor of Lockhart River, said First Nations people had long been screaming for tangible partnerships on the ground but they had been ignored.
“We’re always on the rough end of the pineapple when it comes to these decisions. No one listens, and you’re not heard if you do speak,” he said.
The mayor of Aurukun, Keri Tamwoy, urged politicians to visit remote communities and experience the daily “suffering” of Indigenous people.
“They need to experience the way we live, the way we struggle, the way we try to make ends meet,” she said.
“I believe most of my community will vote yes, and anyone that has questions, it’s as easy as sitting down and talking to them.”
