Acknowledgements omitted

It is my great pleasure to be with you for the State of the Service Roadshow in Newcastle.  Today we have representatives from no less than 28 Australian Public Service agencies here with us. I extend a warm welcome to you all.

Over the course of these State of the Service roadshows, I have been sharing my passion for Australian history. I have been delving a little into the experiences of our earliest Commonwealth public servants.

PETER STEFANOVIC, HOST: let's bring in the Assistant Minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy. Malarndirri, good to see you. How are you feeling in this moment? 

MALARNDIRRI MCCARTHY: Good morning, Peter. Good morning to all you viewers across the country. Very excited, very indeed. I think we are now going to see the beginning of the official campaign and I'm looking forward to it when the Prime Minister announces it. 

STEFANOVIC: it is October 14th yeah?

THOMAS ORITI: After more than eight months of back and forth Australians will today learn the date for the nation's historic Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum. It's widely expected to be Saturday the October the 14th, but I guess we'll find out in the coming hours. People will be asked to vote either Yes or No to enshrine in your first nations Voice in the Constitution, if approved, it would establish an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander formal body for Indigenous people to give advice on laws.

LISA MILLAR, HOST: The eyes of the nation will be on Adelaide this morning with the Prime Minister set to formally announce the date Australians will head to the polls for the voice referendum. A Saturday in mid-October is widely tipped to be the polling day, leaving just weeks for Australians to decide whether or not to enshrine an independent advisory body known as the voice to Parliament in the Constitution. 

GREG JENNETT, HOST: Okay, well, on Wednesday of next week, the Prime Minister will name the date for Australians to vote in the referendum for an Indigenous voice to Parliament. Due to footy finals weather and his own international travel commitments, he's likely to confirm the date is Saturday, the 14th of October. We say likely. Obviously we have to wait for confirmation on that. It's a process of elimination so far.

KATIE WOOLF, HOST: Now the Territory could have more senators as soon as the next federal election, as part of a new commitment to increase our political representation. So as you may or may not have heard, obviously, the National Labor Party agreed to this, well last weekend at their conference, addressing what they described as the historic proportional under-representation of the Northern Territory and the ACT at its national conference. And they also gave a commitment to give each jurisdiction more senators.

WALEED ALY, HOST: Senator, when the referendum was announced, it's worth remembering there was actually really, really strong support for the yes vote and that has since been lost. Why is that? 

OLIVER PETERSON, HOST: Joining me now from Melbourne today is the Labor Federal Member for Perth and the Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister Patrick Gorman. Good afternoon.
 
PATRICK GORMAN MP, ASSISTANT MINISTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER, ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR THE PUBLIC SERVICE: Good afternoon, Oly. Good afternoon to your listeners.
 
PETERSON: How's the ASEAN summit?
 

OLIVER PETERSON, HOST: Joining me now from Melbourne today is the Labor Federal Member for Perth and the Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister Patrick Gorman. Good afternoon.

PATRICK GORMAN MP, ASSISTANT MINISTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER, ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR THE PUBLIC SERVICE: Good afternoon, Oly. Good afternoon to your listeners.

PETERSON: How's the ASEAN summit?

It is my great pleasure to be with you for the State of the Service Roadshow in Canberra. Last week, we launched the roadshow in Perth. We had representatives from over 58 Australian Public Service agencies.

Today, staff from at least 79 agencies are joining us. And a special welcome to those joining us online across the country.

The forerunners to our current State of the Service Report stretch all the way back to Federation. Public Service Commissioner, Mr Duncan Clark or DC McLachlan was appointed in May 1902 and served until his retirement in May 1916.