Australians are being urged not to listen to scare campaigns when considering how to vote in the referendum to enshrine an Indigenous voice in the Constitution, but rather focus on the facts.
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Despite recent polling showing reduced support for the proposal, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese maintains the government is on track to hold the referendum in the last quarter of 2023.
"This is a very simple proposition to recognise Indigenous Australians in our Constitution, in our founding document, and it's time that we did that," he said on Sunday.
"I believe most Australians will accept that ... It's not a complex proposition, it doesn't change any of the ways that we are governed, it just provides for the opportunity for Indigenous people to have a say in matters that affect them."
Business groups, faith organisations and sporting bodies have already thrown their support behind the voice.
GetUp, a progressive left-leaning advocacy group, launched its #WriteYes campaign in Cairns on Sunday and will hold a similar event in Alice Springs on Wednesday.
"We're really in a historic moment," GetUp's First Nations justice campaign director Amy Gordon said.
"And it's not just because we're going to a referendum but because this is a moment where the whole country is talking about First Nations justice and this is a really incredible opportunity to build momentum."
Mr Albanese wanted Australians to vote on the facts, not fearmongering.
He compared the upcoming referendum to parliament's apology to the stolen generations in 2008, which opponents claimed would be divisive and result in large compensation claims.
"We know that it was a moment of national unity, the scare campaigns weren't right ... it didn't have an impact on most Australians, except they felt better about who we were as a country," he said.
"If we recognise Indigenous Australians in our Constitution, people will look back and say, 'why didn't we do it earlier?', just like people say 'why didn't we make the apology earlier?'"
The voice to parliament will be able to advise parliament and the government on issues affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
But the federal coalition continues to argue the voice won't deliver better outcomes for Indigenous Australians and will "deliver worse outcomes for all Australians".
Housing Minister Julie Collins said while she already worked with Indigenous leaders on housing challenges in remote communities, the voice would provide an opportunity to increase advice to government.
"At the moment, obviously I can't speak and talk to every single Indigenous (person) in the country, so (the voice) would centralise that and provide us with very good advice on how do we close the gap," she told the ABC.
The referendum's success depends on majority support across the country and in four of six Australian states.
Independent MP Allegra Spender, who supports the voice, said many Australians did not yet understand the proposal and the 'yes' campaign would have a big job ahead of it.
"We've got a long way to go, but I'm still optimistic we can do it," she told Sky News.
"Frankly, I just think there's a lot of work that needs to be done on the ground."
The question to be put in the referendum is: "A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. Do you approve this proposed alteration?"
Australian Associated Press
