While thousands of people took part yesterday in invasion and survival day rallies across the country – many of them campaigning against the voice – the prime minister sharpened his pitch.

“It is something missing from our nation’s birth certificate, it’s missing from our constitution,” Albanese said on Thursday.

“And I say this – if not now, when? If not now, when will this change occur? And if not the people of Australia this year, who will make this change?”

Albanese said he would not engage in partisan politics on the matter, including the position taken by Greens senator Lidia Thorpe.

Thorpe said she would not support the voice unless she was satisfied it guaranteed Indigenous sovereignty would not be ceded.

At an Invasion Day rally in Melbourne, she said Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people deserved more than an advisory body and called for 10 seats in the senate to be allocated to Indigenous representatives.

“We have to rid racism and heal this country, bring everyone together through a sovereign treaty,” she said.

Speaking at a rally in Canberra, Ngambri and Ngunnawal woman Leah House labelled the proposed voice to parliament as “crumbs” and a distraction from the goal of Indigenous sovereignty.

In Sydney, Wiradjuri woman and Greens candidate for the NSW upper house Lynda-June Coe called the push for a voice and constitutional recognition a fallacy.

Survival and invasion day protesters gather in Victoria Square/Tarntanyangga on Thursday. Photo: Jason Katsaras/Indaily

Locally around 5000 protesters converged on an invasion day rally in Victoria Square/Tarntanyangga with organiser Natasha Wanganeen and many other Indigenous protesters calling for a national treaty before the establishment of a voice to parliament.

“What good is a voice if we don’t have a treaty, what good is a voice if we don’t have land,” Wanganeen said.

“I’m not against it and I’m not for it, because I need to know more information, I want to make an informed decision on what happens to my people.

“Are they [the government] going to give with one hand and take from the other? What’s it going to be? This is what we need to be thinking about, especially for young fellas – ultimately this is going to determine how you live, it’s going to determine your future.

“We want to give these fellas a chance, what we haven’t had, ultimate freedom in their own country.”

Indigenous academic Tom Calma, the newly appointed Senior Australian of the Year and a campaigner for the voice referendum, said the issues facing Indigenous people and the need to move towards reconciliation could co-exist.

“It’s important that we as Aboriginal people have an opportunity to be able to contribute to policies that impact on us and programs and legislation and that’s the first step,” he told ABC Radio.

“If you support the principle of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people having an opportunity to have an input into public policy and into legislation, then that should be what you support.”

At the official Australia Day celebration in Canberra, Ngunnawal elder Aunty Violet Sheridan called for national unity on the issue, urging people to vote “yes”.

“I am a proud Ngunnawal Aboriginal woman but I am also a proud Australian, so I want us to come together,” she said.

The National Party announced it would not support the voice last year, a decision which led to backbencher Andrew Gee resigning from the party to sit on the crossbench.

The Liberal Party has yet to adopt a formal position but Opposition Leader Peter Dutton continues to call for more details on the proposal.

A spokeswoman for Dutton said he wanted to have reasonable questions answered on how the voice would work.

“He has met with Indigenous leaders and is happy to attend a future meeting of the referendum working group,” the spokeswoman said.

Albanese said the voice was a very clear proposition that would constitutionally recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as Australia’s first peoples.

Many Australians celebrated the day in a more traditional fashion.

Debbie Walker began her Australia Day with a swim at Sydney’s Balmoral Beach before joining friends for a few pints in The Rocks with family and friends, wearing a shirt emblazoned with koalas, kangaroos and emus.

To her, the day is a reminder of the safety and freedoms Australia affords its residents.

“We’re living in a country that is absolutely awesome. We’re not bombing each other, we tolerate each other… I want people to remember we live in a fabulous country” she said.

Walker, a 57-year-old distribution manager, said political momentum associated with the day, with calls for changing the date to accommodate First Nation communities growing louder, missed the point.

She noted that crowds celebrating this year were markedly less than previous pre-pandemic turnouts because of political correctness.

“Whatever happened in the past, happened. It’s not us who made the mistake it’s our predecessors,” she said.

Bringing an outback spirit to Sydney’s central district, Michael Flanagan, 50, rode down Cumberland Street on his white horse Pugsley in a decade-long tradition to mark the day.

“Australia Day represents our great nation and we should all be healing,” he said.

The civil engineer from Lightning Ridge in northern NSW wore an Akubra hat and smoked a cigar, as city onlookers took photos and patted the horse.

“It’s fun, it’s abnormal and it’s a remnant of the past,” he said.

In Melbourne, Jaime Castro said Australia Day reminded him how grateful he was to be free and enjoying life after his family fled conflict in El Salvador years ago.

“We are very grateful for everything Australia has done for us. Australia Day is every day because Australia saved our family,” he said.

Megan Ewins and friends took advantage of a day off together by having a picnic in the city’s botanic gardens, but she said they were purposefully not celebrating Australia Day.

“I don’t know a single person who is (celebrating), not even family members,” she said.

-AAP