Noel Pearson finds hope for the voice in a Sydney Westfield
Pearson said it was important to campaign with both Liberal and Labor politicians so voters would not see it as a partisan affair.
Kean said he is actively trying to recruit Yes supporters in the Liberal Party to the campaign.
Indigenous leader Noel Pearson speaks to Christa with Congressman Julian Leeser (centre) and Stateman Matt Kean from the honey stand.Credit: Rhett Wyman
Pearson said opposition to the vote came from the far right and far left and that should bring comfort to mainstream Australians.
“The Voice is right in the middle, it’s a reasonable balance,” Pearson said.
“It’s substantial, it’s meaningful, but it’s not radical. The benchmark for this is that we have both extreme ends against while in the middle is the voice.”
Gita Sundarji, who lives near Hornsby, said indigenous people “absolutely should have a say in everything that goes on in the country”.
Indigenous leader Noel Pearson is fighting for a vote in Parliament with Matt Kean and Julian Leeser, local Liberal MPs in Hornsby.Credit: Rhett Wyman
John Ringrose, 77, and his wife Meg, members of the local Liberal Party, said they support the vote. Meg said she was a Wiradjuri woman who grew up mostly in Sydney.
Trevor Davis, 83, supported “a yes to vote and a yes to compassion” but regularly received anti-vote emails from about three “conservative email buddies.”
Ivan Bosnich said he used to talk loudly at the Hornsby Men’s Shed, where he runs the toy program.
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“Indigenous peoples need to be respected and included, and after all it was their land,” Bosnich said.
He said the men’s group, numbering about 170, came from “different walks of life,” giving his views a mixed reception.
Christa, a stallholder who sells honey and declined to give her last name, said she was undecided because it was unclear if all Aboriginal people wanted it.
Pearson told her about opinion polls showing the vote had 80 per cent support among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the highest of any group.
He told that herald The level of indigenous support was one of the most common questions he was asked during the campaign, along with whether it would produce any practical results.
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