SYDNEY: Thousands rallied in Australia on Sunday to back a campaign to recognise the country’s Indigenous people in the constitution ahead of a referendum later this year, after a recent dip in support for the change.

The referendum, likely to be held between October and Decem­ber, seeks to amend the constitution and establish an advisory body, called the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, to give Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people a direct say in policies that impact them.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s centre-left Labour government backs the change, while the opposition Liberal-National conservatives urge a “No” vote.

According to The Guardian, opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has lashed out at Australian mining giants and other big companies for donating to the yes campaign in support of the Indigenous voice to parliament. Dutton said on Sunday that many big companies “lacked a significant backbone” when it came to the upcoming voice referendum.

“There are a lot of people who are just craving popularity and are trying to please people in the Twittersphere”, he said while speaking to Sky News.

Governing Labour party backs the reform while opposition urges a ‘No’ vote

On Sunday, an Australian Council of Social Service tweet showed Sydney rally attendees in T-shirts with the words “Vote Yes” and caps with the words “The Uluru Statement”, referring to a key document that calls for an Indigenous Voice.

One rallygoer, Jason Howard, said the event was “a great opportunity for all Australians to get behind something that’s going to make this country better”.

Another attendee, Isabelle Smith, said in her opinion the referendum was the most important issue in Australia.

“It will bring Australians together and I think voting ‘Yes’ is the most important thing that people can do,” she said. Yes23, the group behind more than 25 rallies nationwide, said the crowd in Sydney was around 3,000 and that it expected up to 25,000 people to participate in total.

The day of action comes after support for the referendum appeared to be ebbing, according to a poll last month, which showed “No” ahead for the first time, 51 per cent to 49pc.

Opponents, including some Indigenous people, have said the proposal lacks detail and will divide Australians.

“We do not really focus on the polls. What we focus on is the work that is involved in getting out and talking to people, Yes23 director Rachel Perkins told ABC television on Sunday. Getting constitutional change is difficult in Australia.

The government must secure a double majority in the referendum, which means more than 50pc of voters nationwide, and a majority of voters in at least four of the six states must back the change. In the past, there have been 44 proposals for constitutional change in 19 referendums, and only eight of these have passed. Most notably, a 1967 referendum on Indigenous rights saw a record Yes vote.

Indigenous Australians, who account for 3.8pc of the population, face disadvantages including discrimination, poor health and education outcomes and high incarceration rates.

Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2023