LOCAL Yes campaigners say their volunteers knocked on more than 2000 Bathurst doors in the run-up to pre-poll opening for the Voice to Parliament referendum.
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Bathurst for Yes co-leads Juanita Kwok and Michael Mullen say almost 190 residents have joined the group and there are similar groups in Lithgow, Orange, Mudgee and Blayney campaigning for Yes.
On the opposite side of the debate, leading No campaigner Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price was back in the region recently, speaking at a community forum in Lithgow on Monday, September 25 and addressing a crowd of about 200 at Duntryleague at Orange.
"I hadn't had a feeling about how Lithgow was feeling about this referendum, but evidently there's big support for what I and the Nationals are campaigning for in terms of a No vote," Ms Price said.
Senator Price was then in Dubbo on Tuesday, September 26 with federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, who said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had "spent the first 16 months of his term completely and utterly focused on the Voice and he's forgotten about Australians in the regions and in rural and remote areas".
Bathurst federal MP Andrew Gee is a strong supporter of the Voice to Parliament, while state MP Paul Toole told the Western Advocate recently that he would not be voting in support of the change to the constitution.
With pre-poll voting in Bathurst open ahead of this weekend's referendum, Dr Kwok and Mr Mullen of Bathurst for Yes say it's an historic moment.
"Referendums don't come around often and this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to recognise Aboriginal people in the Australian constitution," Dr Kwok said.
"No Aboriginal people were invited to take part in the writing of our constitution, and they are not recognised as our First Nations People in the constitution.
"We now have the opportunity to change that and recognise 65,000 years of culture."
Mr Mullen said 188 Bathurst residents have joined Bathurst for Yes as volunteers and, in the run-up to pre-poll, they knocked on more than 2000 doors in Bathurst.
"Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been asking to be recognised in the constitution as our First Nations people and to have a say in matters that affect them for over 100 years," he said.
"Outcomes will improve when Aboriginal people are listened to on health, education, employment and housing policies for their communities."
They say members of Bathurst for Yes include some of the city's most well-respected citizens, including Dr Hal Rikard-Bell and Dr Elizabeth Barrett.
Dr Rikard-Bell said the referendum "is one of the only opportunities we will have to make a difference to our Indigenous population".
Dr Barrett, a public health physician who was recently awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for her contribution to rural and remote medicine, said for programs to be successful, Aboriginal people need to have a say.
"We are failing to close the gap because of the constant changes and frequent cancellation of programs that are working. That is why we need a permanent advisory body to parliament," she said.
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