Workshops, a new website and a $5m donation have fuelled the launch of the yes campaign for an Indigenous voice to parliament.
Hundreds of advocates met on Kaurna land in Adelaide to workshop strategies to win the referendum before the launch on Thursday night.
The yes campaign director, Quandamooka man of Minjerribah Dean Parkin, said it was time to bring the conversation back to the people, to unite them with a successful yes vote.
“Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia’s constitution has been discussed in political circles very intensely in recent months,” he said.
“It’s time to bring that conversation to where it belongs, and back to where it started – with the people of Australia.
“We are now starting the work of welcoming people into that conversation and the millions of discussions that are going to happen across Australia – from kitchen tables to sporting clubs and from farmyards to beachfronts – over the course of 2023, towards landing with a successful yes vote that will bring the country together.”
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has vowed to go ahead with a referendum by the end of the year, while emphasising that it’s a project for the Australian people and should not be a partisan issue. At the start of a national week of action on Saturday, he said he would “reach out to any parliamentarian across the political spectrum”.
“Because this should not be the subject of partisan debate. This should be the moment where we come together as a nation,” he said.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has not declared a formal position yet, but has claimed the referendum is on track to fail.
Australia’s largest philanthropic organisation, the Paul Ramsay Foundation, announced $5m of funding for Australians for Indigenous Constitutional Recognition (AICR), which will be the movement’s fundraising and governance body.
AICR will fund resources and events for the campaign, and support local campaigns by community organisations.
A new website, yes23.com.au, will recruit volunteers, and provide posters and flyers for the cause. It has advice for advocates on how to discuss the upcoming referendum, including talking points and how to respond to people’s questions.
The AICR co-chair, Rachel Perkins, said the campaign now had “tremendous momentum”.
“The cause of constitutional recognition is a long and storied one. It has been driven by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders and encouraged by the support of political leaders of all traditions for more than a generation,” she said.
“This year, the people of Australia will finally have the chance to say yes to recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the constitution with a voice to parliament.
“The campaign now has tremendous momentum as we head towards a referendum later this year that offers a chance for a moment of national unity unparalleled in modern Australia.”
The Paul Ramsay Foundation director and Kuku Yalanji woman, Natalie Walker, said the foundation aimed to “make a lasting contribution to positive social change”.
Advocates for a no vote, including Recognise a Better Way, Advance, and Fair Australia, have not yet launched their campaign.
At the official launch, dozens of people tumbled out of Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute into the 41C Adelaide afternoon. There was an air of celebration after the days of workshops, pulling together the logistics of the yes campaign. Guardian Australia asked one of the leaders how it went.
“Awesome,” they said.
Solemnity descended as Uncle Moogy – a Kaurna and Ngarrindjeri elder – performed a smoking ceremony, weaving between television cameras and crowds adorned with ‘yes’ badges and stickers.
Then it was back into Tandanya for the welcome to country, music and dance performances, and more of that air of celebration.
True to the organisers’ pledge, community representatives, volunteers and grassroots advocates far outweighed the political presence - although South Australian attorney general, Kyam Maher, was there.
And he had an extra reason for the big smile - the state voice to parliament legislation had just passed the upper house. It will go to the lower house next week and is almost guaranteed to pass, despite the opposition of the Liberal party.
Parkin addressed the crowd, describing the referendum as a simple yes/no question.
Recognition, he said, was a “very simple”, yet “profound” thing.
“It means you get to connect what it means to be Australian to the oldest continual culture on earth,” Parkin said.
“When we vote yes, every Australian will connect their story to that story.
“But wait, there’s more. Not only do we get to make that simple yet profound statement… we get to do something practical as well. We give Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people a real voice on the issues that affect our families and our communities. It’s not rocket science. We know when we give our people a say… we get outcomes.”
Perkins pledged to bring everyone into the tent for the campaign.
“That’s why the Uluru statement was written, not to politicians, but to the Australian people – because only us, the Australian people, can change the constitution,” she said.
“We are going to take people with us on that walk. Because we have a dream. Our dream is to unify this country, bring the Australian people together with the first people of Australia, in unity.
“To achieve that dream we need one simple thing. We need the Australian people to say one simple word. What is that word?”
To which she got a resounding “yes” from the crowd.
