Di Davidson, John Davidson-Mowle, Yolanthe Daly, Vikki McDonough and Michael Mulvaney gear up for Saturday’s rally to promote the Yes vote in the upcoming referendum. Photo: Stephen Hall.
More than 30 community, environmental and faith-based groups in Curtin and Hughes, along with hundreds of residents, will join hands this Saturday, 26 August to highlight community solidarity for the Yes campaign.
Co-organisers Dr Michael Mulvaney, North Woden president of the St Vincent de Paul Society and Curtin resident Vikki McDonough, said they expected hundreds of people to turn out for the event – to walk with First Nations Australians.
Their idea is to bring the local community together to support the Yes vote in the upcoming referendum – to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.
Dr Mulvaney said the idea was hatched from a kitchen table conversation with a small group of residents around the Uluru Statement of the Heart and what they could do to champion the cause.
“Vikki [McDonough] and I felt a bit low because the No vote was gaining momentum, yet to us, it was just a simple thing to say yes. So we came up with the idea to organise something locally and it has just snowballed.”
At 11 am, everyone will be invited to gather around the 300-year-old gum tree at the base of Red Hill – the tree being identified as a symbol of Indigenous connection in the local area. A fallen limb from the tree has been made into a message stick by members of the Hughes Community Shed, with the words “ours”, “yours” and a heart carved into it.
At 11:45 am, a delegation of more than 500 people will join hands on the vacant block opposite the Curtin shops where the message stick will be passed around the human spiral.
“At the centre of the spiral will be the Uluru Statement of the Heart, saying ‘Our Hearts, Yes’,” Dr Mulvaney said. “Then everyone who wants to, can sign their commitment to the Yes vote.”
Mrs McDonough said the aim of the public display was to embrace the invitation from First Nations people to walk together.
Yes campaigners erected their banners on the vacant block opposite the Curtin shops on Wednesday ahead of Saturday’s rally. Photo: Stephen Hall.
“We want to show that we, as a community, will be voting Yes to Indigenous people having a say on the policies and laws that affect their communities.”
She said there was plenty of positive energy with the Yes campaign – “in contrast, there is no positive energy about going forward with the No vote, so it is important for us to personally respond to the Uluru statement.”
Dr Mulvaney said the Yes vote was simply asking all Australians to walk with First Nations people. That the past attitudes of superiority not only did not work, but were disrespectful.
“First Nations Australians have done all the heavy lifting,” he said. “It’s time now for us to step up and say ‘Yes’.
“Residents of Hughes and Curtin, alongside countless Australians, want Indigenous people from all points of the southern sky to know that we stand behind and with them.”
The day will also feature a speech by Ngarigo and Yuin man and Yes23 volunteer Bindi Stewart Fitzpatrick and Wiradjuri woman Katrina Fanning, past chair of the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body (ACT’s equivalent to the Voice), the current ACT Citizen of the Year and a YES23 volunteer.
Craft activities featuring Yes designs, a Yes23 stall, sausage sizzle and drinks stall will be provided.
Walkley award-winning documentary maker, Simon Cunich, will film the event which will also include a musical performance from Canberra’s A Chorus of Women and local Ngunnawal singer-songwriter, Alinta Barlow.
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