00:00 The bustling melting pot of Sydney's western suburbs.
00:10 A place where some of Australia's newest citizens will be voting in a referendum concerning
00:15 the nation's oldest inhabitants.
00:19 What happens here could tip the result one way or the other.
00:23 But not everyone is aware of the issue at stake.
00:26 We're just from the ABC, we're asking people do you know about the voice referendum?
00:30 No.
00:31 Honestly I don't know anything about it.
00:32 I don't know.
00:33 I don't know.
00:34 At the moment I didn't hear anything.
00:37 There's quite a big talk about the yes campaign within our local mosques.
00:41 Oh yes of course, about the voice.
00:43 First Nations people having an opportunity to have a voice in Parliament.
00:46 With the clock ticking, the yes and no campaigns are working hard.
00:50 Firstly to explain to people what the referendum is actually about.
00:54 And then to convince them of their case.
00:57 The culturally diverse vote is absolutely crucial in the referendum.
01:00 It will determine the outcome in New South Wales, in Victoria and quite probably in Western
01:06 Australia and perhaps in South Australia.
01:11 With so many different communities and life experiences here in Western Sydney, it's difficult
01:15 to predict which way this culturally diverse area will vote.
01:19 For some, the very idea of a referendum is new and they're getting conflicting messages
01:25 from both sides of the debate.
01:29 Vietnamese community groups in Cabramatta are going door to door to talk about the voice.
01:35 They say many here have had little exposure to Indigenous people and limited knowledge
01:40 of Australia's colonial history.
01:42 Now we've been here 40 years and we don't have any chance to get the combination with
01:47 the First Nations, that's the reason why we've got a gap to understand what the nation lost
01:53 during the past.
01:56 It's true that many people in the diverse communities have no knowledge of Australian
02:00 history, may never have encountered an Indigenous person outside the multicultural communities.
02:05 That's also true.
02:06 The vast majority of non-Indigenous Australians who were born here may never have met an Indigenous
02:11 person and most of them, particularly the older ones, will have no knowledge of Indigenous
02:15 history whatsoever.
02:16 What the more newly arrived communities are experiencing is a more intense version of
02:22 what is a general sense of ignorance that pervades the wider Australian community.
02:29 In the commuter suburb of Kellyville, no campaigners say the feedback they're getting is that the
02:35 voice is not a high priority.
02:38 Everyone is worried about the mortgage stress, they're worried about the cost of living stress.
02:42 Even today they're saying there are a lot of things to do better than the referendum.
02:51 In the heart of Lakemba, evening prayers for the Bangladeshi community provide an opportunity
02:56 to share information.
02:57 And these are the lines that will be added to the constitution.
03:01 It's so important to have these conversations within our communities, within trusted sources
03:06 and really get to the heart of why this is so important.
03:10 Sharing the information, I think that's what we need to do.
03:12 We need to explain to them the history of the Aboriginal people, the similarities that
03:16 we've gone through under colonisation as well.
03:20 Wiradjuri man Jack Gibson has lived in Western Sydney for over three decades.
03:26 He's been campaigning to help people from all backgrounds understand what the voice
03:30 means.
03:31 To me the question is fairly clear.
03:34 We're going to vote for a voice that will speak for Aboriginal people.
03:39 That's pretty clear.
03:40 I think people are confused because there's a message being sent that if you don't know,
03:47 vote no.
03:48 If you don't know, find out.
03:53 Views in Western Sydney on the voice are as diverse as the population.
03:57 [BLANK_AUDIO]
