The official 'no' campaign has been accused of being racist by one Indigenous group that opposes the referendum, and described as retrograde by an organisation dedicated to advancing the Uluru Statement of the Heart.
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The Blak Sovereign Movement, supported by independent Senator Lidia Thorpe, released its critique of the 'yes' and 'no' campaigns on Thursday.
"We understand that many well-meaning folk are hurting as a result of being coerced by the 'yes' campaign, or are afraid to vote 'no' due to the racism of the conservative 'no' campaign," it said in a statement.
While Uluru Dialogues strategic advisor Kirstie Parker said clearly opinions among First Nations people differ, some of the information published by the Blak Sovereign Movement was as inaccurate as the official 'no' campaign.
Ms Parker also said some of the 'no' campaign's rhetoric had been "quite disgraceful" and was designed to stoke fear and ignorance.
"We've seen at least one senator extol the virtues of the Stolen Generations, a long-discredited government policy from which our people have yet to fully recover and may never fully recover," she said.
"And we've also seen people attacking the identity of anyone who's dared to stand up and speak truth to power.
"It's really retrograde and I would say to them, the 1950s called and they want their attitudes back."
Australians will be asked this year whether they support an Indigenous advisory body being enshrined in the constitution.
The Blak Sovereign Movement says it is against a First Nations voice because it will be powerless and a "destructive distraction".
"Recognition of sovereignty and truth-telling are the key to real change," the group said.
"There are options that will have meaningful impacts today.
"It starts with truth."
The movement took aim at the official 'no' campaign, saying the 10 reasons for voting 'no' published in an Australian Electoral Commission pamphlet were racist and fear-mongering.
Ms Parker, a Yuwallarai woman from north-western NSW, is a former co-chair of the National Congress of Australia's First Peoples - a national advisory body set up by the Labor government in 2009.
The federal coalition government in 2013 withdrew funding to the congress, which was forced out of operation in 2019 after its reserves were exhausted.
"That was devastating because it said that the efforts of our people to have a say on the things that matter to us had come to nought," Ms Parker, a former journalist and editor, said.
"Subsequently, we've had years without a national voice for our people and we have seen our people suffer.
"The voice is a body that wouldn't need to worry that it would say something that governments disagreed with and be defunded."
Supporters of a voice have pointed out a 'no' vote is a vote for the status quo.
"The Closing the Gap framework that was put in place in 2008 now has 19 targets and four of them have gone backwards," Ms Parker said.
"For some others we don't even know if there's been movement or not because we don't have adequate data - that says that we have to do more."
Polling by the Uluru Dialogues has found 83 per cent of Indigenous people support the voice.
"And while people may say, 'don't have a voice, do this instead,' I would say to them, what can we do now to help reduce the numbers of our young people who are suiciding?" Ms Parker said.
"What can we do now to help get our kids ready and on track for them to thrive in education and all of the statistics that we know are abhorrent to any decent Australian?"
The 'yes' case requires support from a majority of the population and majorities in four of the six states for the referendum to succeed.
13YARN 13 92 76
Aboriginal Counselling Services 0410 539 905
Australian Associated Press
