Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.<\/p>\n
An Indigenous boy\u2019s wishes for a \u201ccountry that hears my voice\u201d will be used to win over voters in a $20 million, month-long blitz to pull off a miracle referendum win in a campaign bogged down in fresh racism claims from Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney.<\/p>\n
Yes23 has been holding back its advertising spending to bankroll a new campaign, produced by top agency Clemenger and launching on Saturday across TV, digital, radio and print platforms.<\/p>\n
\u201cWill I grow up in a country that hears my voice?\u201d asks the boy in the new promotion.<\/p>\n
\u201cWill I live as long as other Australians? Will I get to go to a good school? Will I be able to learn my people\u2019s language? Will I be seen beyond the sports field, recognised by the decision makers of our country?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes makes it possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ad rollout coincides with a series of major city walks that will be attended by senior government ministers and Indigenous leaders. The Yes campaign and Labor federal secretary Paul Erickson believe there are about 5 million voters up for grabs who will only begin to focus on the ballot during the four-week campaign.<\/p>\n
Yes sources, speaking anonymously to detail confidential plans, said the campaign may roll out one last ad later in the campaign, focused on the consequences of voting No.<\/p>\n
A spokesman for No campaign group Fair Australia said the Yes camp would \u201ckeep up their free Qantas flights, big corporate sponsorships, and celebrity endorsements but it won\u2019t change the fact that Australians don\u2019t want to be divided by race\u201d.<\/p>\n
A live microphone picked up a candid conversation before a press conference between Burney and NSW Premier Chris Minns on Friday, in which Burney called out treatment she had been receiving.<\/p>\n
The Wiradjuri woman, who spoke recently of her health issues, faced a barrage of questions during the past fortnight of parliamentary sittings. She evaded and failed to directly answer several of them, prompting Opposition Leader Peter Dutton to demand she stop reading off a script and answer Voice queries.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney and NSW Premier Chris Minns.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>James Brickwood<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve just finished two weeks of gruelling parliament. To me, it\u2019s just unbelievably racist and bullying,\u201d Burney said to Minns. \u201cThe way they have treated me is appalling.\u201d<\/p>\n It is not clear if Burney was referring to the Coalition or to abuse from the public. In a written statement following the emergence of the conversation with Minns, Burney said her office had been inundated with racist abuse.<\/p>\n \u201cRacism takes its toll. But I will never allow racism to weaken or diminish my resolve to see Australia embrace constitutional recognition through a Voice,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Burney said she was disgusted by leading No campaigner Jacinta Nampijinpa Price\u2019s claim that Aboriginal people were not victims and faced zero ongoing disadvantage as a result of colonisation.<\/p>\n Price was asked about her colonisation comments at the launch of the No campaign in Victoria on Friday night, repeating her belief that Indigenous Australians should not succumb to a victim mentality.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have never had race as an issue at the forefront of discourse in our nation as much as we have during the lead up to this referendum. That is wrong. That is division and the prime minister has to take responsibility,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Dutton stopped short of fully embracing Price\u2019s contentious argument in an appearance on Nine\u2019s Today<\/em> show, though he said she had experience in Indigenous communities and should not be ignored.<\/p>\n \u201cDo we just say that her view doesn\u2019t count? That she doesn\u2019t know what she\u2019s talking about? She\u2019s still got kids who live in Alice Springs,\u201d Dutton said.<\/p>\n Opposition Leader Peter Dutton in question time on Tuesday. <\/span>Credit: <\/span>Alex Ellinghausen <\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cHer husband lives in Alice Springs. She\u2019s immersed in the community there. She knows the reality of life and she\u2019s saying we shouldn\u2019t sugarcoat what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n Price has repeatedly declined to endorse Dutton\u2019s plan, floated in a Sky News interview on September 3, to hold a second referendum on symbolic constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians without a Voice.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n