MICHAEL ROWLAND, HOST: Now, the Garma Festival enters its last day today as one of the country's biggest gathering on indigenous culture and politics. Over the weekend, the festival outlined how the voice to Parliament would work with young Indigenous people, focusing on how the decision, if the referendum passes, will affect them. The Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, revealed the referendum will take place this year, firmly rejecting calls to either delay or even cancel it. And for more, the Assistant Minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, joins us now from Parliament House. Senator McCarthy. Very good morning to you.
MALARNDIRRI MCCARTHY: Good morning, Michael. Good morning to all your viewers across the country.
ROWLAND: Now we have a Newspoll out this morning showing again the referendum is on track to going down both in the national vote and failing to get a majority of states with a lot of you seemingly entrenched. Are you worried the voice is beyond being salvaged?
MCCARTHY: I've just come from Gulkula in north east Arnhem Land, Michael and come away with great energy and strength and strength of spirit. There was a whole lot of love and strength going forward here and I have a great deal of hope that we are going to get through this and we will get through this in the right way and I am still incredibly positive.
ROWLAND: To those polls, why are you at all, though?
MCCARTHY: Not at all. You know, we know and we knew from the very beginning, Michael, that referendums are so hard to win in this country. We've seen it with the statistics of only eight out of 44. We now don't have bipartisan support. We're having everything thrown at us. But we have so much hope and belief and faith that we will get through to the other side. The goodness of Gulkala and the spirit of the people that flowed through that country to all of us is reaching out to right across Australia. And I will not stop in believing that right up until 6 p.m. on the night of the referendum.
ROWLAND: It's not just the No campaign. The Yes campaign concedes it needs to sell the project better. We had that speech described as a bit of a reset by the Prime Minister at Garma on Saturday. What, in your view, should the Yes campaign be doing to change those polls and get more people onto their side of the ledger?
MCCARTHY: We have to continue to do what we're doing. That is reaching out right across each state and territory jurisdiction. I've traveled numerous states and the territories to reach out to people along with all of those volunteers, and we just have to keep going Michael. I see no other way here other than we keep going. We keep talking. We keep reaching out to people, we keep answering the questions. We keep dispelling the myths and the disinformation that's out there. And we have to do it in a way that shows that the kind of Australia we want beyond the referendum is about change and positive change and about really bringing our country together. And I firmly do believe that irrespective of all these polls that people keep referring to.
ROWLAND: Hasn't the Prime Minister himself added to the confusion over the past week on the issue of treaty? Pretty much dodging and weaving in a couple of interviews last week about whether he and the government was committed to treaty, then confirming that, yes, the government would implement the Uluru Statement in full. In your view, has that been unhelpful in the sense of potentially muddying the waters with some Australians?
MCCARTHY: The Prime Minister sat down with leaders over the weekend, Michael, and reaffirmed our commitment to voice, treaty, truth, which is what we've always said in terms of the Uluru Statement from the Heart. We've been incredibly mindful that what our opponents have been throwing at us has been quite disingenuous, really. We know that the question to the Australian people is about voice. We also know that unless we win the referendum, it's really difficult to move to those second components and third components of the Uluru Statement. It's like planning for a grand final, Michael. We have to prepare for the referendum and we need to win it and hopefully win it convincingly.
ROWLAND: Okay, so no voice, no treaty, is what you're saying?
MCCARTHY: Not at all. I'm saying that we have to stay focused on the first item of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and that is a voice.
ROWLAND: Okay. We had Noel Pearson, one of the most prominent indigenous leaders in Australia, saying that if the voice did get up, the voice could be operating within this term of government. Is it correct?
MCCARTHY: Well, I'm pretty optimistic as well. I feel that if we are successful and in this referendum, I would certainly like to see moves here in the Parliament that again, we continue to reach out to all parliamentarians to be involved in what would be, if we are successful, an extraordinary time in our country's history going forward.
ROWLAND: Now, if the voice goes down, just confirming what the Prime Minister said on Insiders yesterday, that will be it. There'll be no second attempt by the Government to even legislate a voice to Parliament.
MCCARTHY: I'm staying focused on the grand final, Michael, and I believe that's where we should be focused.
ROWLAND: Okay. But it was pretty clear what he said. I'm just seeking clarification from one of his senior colleagues. Is that the voice for nothing?
MCCARTHY: We want to win this referendum, Michael, and we're going to do the best that we can to do that.
ROWLAND: Would you support another attempt to legislate the voice outside of the Constitution if the voice goes down in referendum?
MCCARTHY: I'll say this to you, as a First Nations woman, as the Yanyuwa Garrawa woman. We've had disappointments throughout our entire history, whether we fought for all sorts of rights. And sometimes we've won and sometimes we've lost, but we've remained resilient. And in this instance, I have no doubt that we will remain resilient.
ROWLAND: Now you know a fair bit about the Top End and weather systems in it. What advice are you giving the Prime Minister on time, given it gets, as you well know, pretty wet from November up there?
MCCARTHY: Absolutely. The earlier the better prime minister, please, especially for those of us who live in the north, although I'm sure he's getting hounded by people who live in the south. You've got the Spring Carnival happening in Victoria, you know, in September. I'm sure everyone's giving their dates.
ROWLAND: But as you're saying, November's a pretty challenging month, let's put it that way.
MCCARTHY: Absolutely. Michael, we've got, as people may know, the wet season and the dry season. And come October, it is the build up and then you're moving into the full on wet from November onwards. And it's not only about the campaigners, but it's about the people who need to get to polling booths and also, of course, the staff of the Australian Electoral Commission to be able to get out there.
ROWLAND: Okay. Now, just moving away from the politics, I keep hearing reports that our very own Tony Armstrong was one of the most popular people at Garma. Can you confirm that?
MCCARTHY: Well, he was so popular that I didn't even get to see him. I mean, he was here, he was there. He was everywhere. And it was great to have him up there.
ROWLAND: And really enjoyed it, too. He got a great story from him coming out. Hey, Senator, I appreciate your time this morning. Thank you.
MCCARTHY: No worries. Thank you. Go. Matildas!