We have a date! Australians will head to the polls on October 14 to vote for the constitutional recognition of First Nations Australians and the creation of a Voice to Parliament.
With Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirming the date in Adelaide on Wednesday, what comes next?
What can we expect for the next six weeks?
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This week on Blak Matters Teela Reid is joined by John Paul Janke to take us through what we can expect from the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ camps before we all asked to cast our vote.
John said the camps, both Yes, No and the “campaign of racism” will ramp up, pushing their case before Australians vote.
“We’ve had the opportunity to go around Australia on this referendum road trip and we’ve spoken to many representatives in the community, those supporting the Yes campaign, those opposed to the Voice to Parliament,” John said.
“I remember one of our first shows, one of our guests made a very good comment. There’s a Yes campaign and there’s a No campaign and there is a campaign of racism.
“And I think that has reared its head, the last one, the campaign of racism, prior to the announcement of the referendum date. And sadly, that will continue, if not escalate as we head towards that referendum date.
“So I think, both the both sides, Yes and the No campaign, will do their best to prosecute their various thoughts and ideas on the way forward, but sadly, there will be some in our communities who will use their support of the No campaign to echo racist, ignorant and bigoted views towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.”
John also explains with Teela how Australians will vote, the importance of a First Nations Voice to Parliament and why we should be careful when consuming campaign documents to ensure the information is correct.