When supporters of an indigenous voice to parliament took to the streets of Dubbo on Thursday it marked exactly one month until the referendum will be held on October 14.
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After the walk, the group gathered in Victoria Park to hear from guest speakers about the Uluru Statement From The Heart, including Wiradjuri elder Narelle Boys, and Rod Towney, who was one of the signatories of Uluru Statement.
While they explained there was a need for the voice, if the most recent polls are any indication, the yes camp has a battle on its hands to convince enough Australians to back the constitutional change.
A poll by ACM - publisher of this masthead - shows support for the voice is declining.
When the ACM network's daily newspapers asked our local online and print audiences in June how they would vote on Voice referendum day, only five of the 14 mastheads recorded a "no" vote above 60 per cent among their readerships.
Two months later, and the latest poll published on Wednesday showed 11 of the mastheads have more than 60 per cent of local survey respondents voting "no" on October 14.
It's in the local region that opposition appears to have hardened the most, as the "no" vote has hit 80 per cent (up from 72 per cent) among readers of the Daily Liberal.
Much criticism has been directed at Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for not explaining more details about the voice. But the PM might be letting history guide him.
It has been 24 years since Australians last voted in a referendum when Australians were asked to change the constitution to see Australia become a republic.
At the time polls showed most Australians in favour of having an Australian as head of state, but the no vote won as some supporters of a republic voted against it due to their dislike of the model that was proposed.
The plan was for a president appointed by a two-thirds majority of the members of Parliament rather than being elected by the people.
Fast forward to 2023, and it's possible the last referendum may have played some role in the tactics employed by the PM this time.
Without a clear model showing how it could work, Australians are being asked to support the concept of the voice with the details to be determined later. It's the opposite of what happened in the republic debate.
Time will tell if the vote goes the same way, despite the different approach.
