Rove McManus has made a passionate appeal for Australians to “be decent” and vote “yes” in the Voice to Parliament referendum.
Millions of Australians will cast their votes on Saturday, saying either yes or no to enshrining an advisory body for Indigenous Australians in the constitution.
The comedian revealed to the project board that he “got angry” at a meeting on Friday, saying the voice had been “manipulated.”
“It’s very easy for Peter Dutton to say that it’s not properly explained, that we don’t have a compelling case.” “It’s there,” he said.
It is hoped the voice will give Indigenous people, whose life expectancy is eight years shorter than other Australians and whose suicide rates are twice as high, a chance to have their say on legislation that affects them.
Mr McManus then revealed, after speaking to his nine-year-old daughter, what he said was “overwhelming” about those who wanted to vote no.
“She said, ‘I can’t believe anyone would vote no on this,’ and that breaks my heart,” he said.
“What do we do with ourselves? “This is a real moment when we can be proud and show what a wonderful country this is.”
The three-time Gold Logie winner also addressed those who criticized The Voice for not going far enough to address the issues facing Indigenous Australians, saying: “In many ways of course that’s not the case.”
Millions of Australians will cast their votes on Saturday, saying either yes or no to enshrining an advisory body for Indigenous Australians in the constitution
“You can’t just show up at the top of Mount Everest, you have to climb slowly and that’s the only way to do it,” he said.
He urged Australians to think about how they want to vote and to “just be decent” to bring about change for First Nations people.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also made an emotional appeal to voters on Friday, telling voters that “kindness costs nothing.”
“There is nothing, no cost, for Australians to show kindness and think with both their hearts and their heads as they enter the voting booth tomorrow,” Mr Albanese said.
“This is a time when Australians have an opportunity to demonstrate the generosity of spirit that I see in the Australian character,” he told reporters in Adelaide.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton used the final day before the election to warn that the proposed advisory body was “a very significant and damaging change to our system of government”.
“I think there is great regret about the division that has been created, the money that has been spent and the lack of practical outcome that has been achieved for Indigenous Australians,” he said on ABC radio.