Former AFL player Michael Long has made it to Parliament house in Canberra, after walking from Melbourne in support of an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. He made the same walk back in 2004 to speak with then Prime Minister John Howard about the plight of aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
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00:00 Just in the towns we went through, and I was talking to Dean Park about it, and I said,
00:07 "Geez, we've found there's been a lot of support for the voice and the Yes campaign."
00:12 Obviously, we had people along the way who were, you know, who were no voters, but some
00:20 of those people came on the walk, and some of our walkers actually convinced them, you
00:24 know, why, and asked them why, you know.
00:26 And that was another great thing of it.
00:30 What arguments do they employ?
00:31 I'm interested in that.
00:32 So, they've come and joined you, shoulder to shoulder, and how do you sway them?
00:38 Well, just telling your story, you know, while we walked 19 years ago, I said it was different
00:43 back then, you know.
00:45 Obviously, any voice that we did have, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, it
00:50 disappeared, it had been abolished by John Howard.
00:53 This time, we were working for an opportunity to be enshrined in our constitution, and about
00:59 having a voice and having a say on matters.
01:04 And telling our story while we did this, and asking people where was the love, you know,
01:10 and we're talking about just the oldest culture on the wall.
01:13 You know, in the constitution, we've left off the firstborn.
01:17 We've left off the firstborn in this nation, you know.
01:20 I wasn't just doing it, there were other people in the group talking why they were here.
01:24 And everyone had a different story, but everyone had a different passion and why they were here.
01:29 Of course, and you attracted so many followers and fellow walkers along the way.
01:34 Jacinta Numpigimpa-Price is giving a speech on behalf of the No campaign today.
01:39 There's been so much debate in and around this place, as you would expect, in recent weeks.
01:44 She's warned at the outset that the entire process might risk being divisive.
01:50 As you look at Indigenous communities alone, with which you are familiar, do you fear,
01:56 whichever way this goes, that division might be a legacy from the 15th of October onwards?
02:04 Well, I suppose, I suppose we're probably optimistic.
02:10 In the last, probably 19 days, you know, we've been focusing on the Yes campaign.
02:17 And that's been my focus, you know, time and spending with people.
02:22 And we've felt that. We've felt that love from the people.
02:24 We've felt that support from the people.
02:27 Yes, there is a lot of noise out there, but we've got to move on as a country.
02:32 We've got to move on as people.
02:34 And if you talk about division, you know, we're talking 1901, you know,
02:40 our birth certificate of this nation, our constitution.
02:46 Division started back then.
02:48 This is when Aboriginal people were left off as, you know, the birth certificate of our nation.
02:54 So there's been division from a long time.
02:56 And you obviously approach this on the basis that this is the one and only shot, right?
03:01 So talk of a second referendum, if this goes down, I take it doesn't cut much with you.
03:08 No, it's a bit like, you know, we've got probably the last quarter.
03:12 We talk about football and terminology.
03:17 You know, our outset is about to win the campaign.
03:21 And we're nearly there, you know, and like all good teams, you know,
03:29 last quarter efforts, you know, 14th of October, you know, we plan to win this.
03:34 to win this.
03:36 [BLANK_AUDIO]