Early voting opens in Ballarat ahead of 2023 Voice to Parliament referendum

The Voice to Parliament referendum will take place on October 14, 2023, but early voting opened in the Northern Territory, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia on Monday, October 2.

Voting will open to those in New South Wales, the ACT, Queensland and South Australia on Tuesday, October 3.

On Monday, there was a steady stream of voters casting their preferences in Ballarat, with the occasional line forming outside the Harry Smith Pavilion while people waited to vote.

Creswick resident Lorne Gerlach told The Courier he had voted "enthusiastically" Yes in the referendum, when he attended Ballarat Showgrounds on Monday.

He said the Voice had been driven by Indigenous Australians, and he wanted to show his agreement with them.

"This is the outcome of a long considered process, that's been supported by both Aboriginal people and the legal community and esteemed judges," he said.

"There is nothing to fear here, it's the outcome that 80 per cent of Aboriginal people actually want to see come into effect."

Michele Harvie was handing out flyers for the Yes campaign on Monday, and she said she was volunteering because she believed in fairness and equity.

"We say we're a country of 'giving everybody a go', but we haven't," she said.

"They [Indigenous Australians] have asked us to walk with them, and given what we've done to them for the last 200 and something years, the fact they are being so generous and saying 'please walk with us', is why I can't be anything but helpful."

On the other side of the argument, No campaign Ballarat volunteer coordinator Helen Bath said she was supporting the No vote because she didn't approve of changing the constitution.

"It's a pretty serious document that has stood our country well over many years," she said.

"And altering the constitution, I don't believe is the correct way to do this."

Ms Bath said there had recently been good work done in Indigenous communities by consulting with local Aboriginal people, and she would prefer this strategy to continue rather than altering the constitution.

"How is a small number of people in Canberra going to be better than working with the regions and working with the local people on the ground?", she said.

On Monday, October 2, Ballarat's two major local Indigenous organisations - Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Corporation and Ballarat and District Aboriginal Co-Operative - made statements of support for the Yes campaign.

In their statement, the Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Corporation highlighted that Australia, unlike the United States, Canada and New Zealand, was one of the few first-world colonial nations that did not already recognise its First Peoples in its constitution.

Ballarat federal MP Catherine King told The Courier it was significant that the Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Corporation and BADAC had announced their support for the Voice.

"They are the voice of First Nations people here that live with us, and that was a very strong message today from them asking very generously for us to join together with them and to vote yes," she said.

"I've been very open that I am voting yes, I think this is the right thing for both our community and for the nation."

ALSO IN THE NEWS:

Ms King said there was a lot of misinformation being spread about the Voice to Parliament, so people should ensure they are getting any information on the referendum from reliable sources.

"There's a lot going around on Facebook and social media that is just simply untrue," she said.

"Be smart about it and look at good credible sources is really the most important thing for people to do, and probably the most credible sources we've got in this community is BADAC and the Wadawurrung asking us to walk with them to vote yes."

In Ballarat, voting will be open at the Ballarat Showgrounds from Monday to Saturday before October 14, while people will also be able to cast ballots at Ballarat South Community Hub in Sebastopol from Saturday, October 7.

Visit The Courier's Voice to Parliament site, with the facts you need to make an informed decision on October 14.