Watch: What is the ‘Indigenous Voice to Parliament’?
A new fund will help locals run community events encouraging voters to vote “yes” in the upcoming referendum, as polling shows support for the Voice to Parliament has dropped below 50 per cent.
The Yes Alliance Capacity Fund – operated by the official Yes 23 campaign – will give one-off grants of between $1000 and $15,000 to groups and organisations to facilitate events and activities, with a focus on engaging diverse communities.
Yes 23 Campaign Director Dean Parkin said the grants would give a “helping hand” to organisations who want to support the campaign, “whether that be in Albany, Armidale or Aurukun”.
“It is about ensuring people, no matter where they live, can get informed about how a Voice will give Indigenous people a real say on how to fix unique challenge across areas such as health, housing and education,” Mr Parkin said.
“We are energised and humbled by the strong community engagement and support we are seeing right across Australia for the ‘yes’ movement.”
The announcement comes just days after a JWS Research poll revealed that support for the “yes” vote was at 46 per cent, down from 51 per cent in February.
The poll found the “no” vote has risen from 36 per cent to 43 per cent. Around 11 per cent of voters are undecided.
Rising support for the “no” campaign comes despite the fact there are more than 100 active community-based “yes” groups, 10,000 volunteers being activated across the country, and more than 500 organisations publicly supporting the campaign.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has rejected the suggestion more Australians will vote “no” at the referendum, telling Sky News on Saturday every poll “has the ‘yes’ vote at higher than the ‘no’ vote”.
“We continue to put the case and Australians will make up their own mind,” he said.
The Yes Alliance Capacity Fund will be operated in partnership with the Australian Communities Foundation.
This Sunday, July 2, will see more than 20 large-scale community events held across the country in support of the “yes” movement as part of “Come Together for Yes” day.
