Opinions in Mawson shops are vibrant. With Middle Eastern bakeries to spice shops from the subcontinent, there are varying opinions on the upcoming referendum.
Imran migrated to Australian from Pakistan in 1986. He called Canberra home and opened Al-Fazal spice centre in Mawson market place.
Behind his counter, an array of masala hangs off the board and international phone cards are marked for sale. Imran is having a discussion with trader Gurmukh Singh; he's negotiating prices before being interrupted with a question on the Voice to Parliament referendum. "I came here with zero English and I achieved success, why do Indigenous people need a separate Voice? There is a opportunity for everyone in this country," he said.
"It's going to divide people. We came here with nothing," said Mr Singh, echoing the sentiment of his business partner.
Mawson marketplace is teeming with business owners from different ethnicities. Their opinions on the Voice are shaping up to become a critical voting pool in the referendum campaign.
More than one-quarter of Canberrans were born overseas and nearly 30 per cent speak a language other than English at home. Their views range from supportive, hard "nos" and there a some that are still undecided.
The "yes" campaign is drawing on migrants' experience of discrimination. The "no" campaign argues Australians all deserve equal opportunity, rather than a system that elevates one group.
In January, prominent "no" campaigner Nyunggai Warren Mundine raised the idea of recognising migrants alongside Indigenous people in the constitution
Further south, in Lanyon, Turkish-Cypriot kebab chef Yilmaz Tahir was still undecided on how he would vote.
"I'm just undecided because we didn't get enough information. A lot of people can't speak English. If you can't read English how are you going to know what all of this is about?" he said.
"I'm sure a lot of people are still undecided because they don't understand what's happening."
Many new Australians are finding it harder to engage with social justice and political issues because they're busy working hard.
If the "yes" campaign is relying on ethnic minority votes to produce victory, the signs from Canberra may not be good.
People The Canberra Times talked to from different groups were not unanimous in their support for the Voice.
Recent reports said the yes campaign was making a special effort to persuade people with an ethnic minority background to commit to their side.
But in Canberra's south, the signs weren't good from an albeit unrepresentative sample.
Polls conducted at the start of the campaign indicated culturally diverse communities were slightly more supportive of the Voice than the general population, but they were less likely to recall being exposed to information information about it.
Leading multicultural figure Diana Abdel-Rahman worried a lack of background knowledge about Indigenous history and personal interactions with Indigenous people was causing communities to struggle forming an informed position on the referendum.
