Hundreds of ‘Yes’ supporters gathered at Elizabeth’s Playford Civic Centre in Adelaide’s northern suburbs to officially launch the movement and six-week campaign for the referendum.

Adelaide was chosen to launch the 2023 campaign as it also hosted the beginning of the campaign for the successful 1967 referendum to recognise Indigenous Australians in the Constitution.

“It is not a coincidence of history that the campaign to launch the 1967 referendum also started here on Kaurna Yerta,” South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas said.

“South Australians have always been ready to lead, particularly when it comes to taking the aspiration of the fair go and transforming it into a living truth.”

With that date now set, both the Yes and No campaigns have just six weeks left to put their case to the Australian public on whether or not the Constitution should be amended to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

If the referendum passes, an Indigenous Voice will be added to the Constitution, and a committee of First Nations people will be established to provide informed advice to government on issues that affect them.

To be effective, a double majority must vote in favour which means a national majority of voters plus a majority of voters in at least four out of six states.

Rapturous applause welcomed the Prime Minister, who said the opportunity in front of Australians was a “once in a generation chance to change our nation and to change it together”.

“On October 14 you are not being asked to vote for a political party or a person, you’re being asked to vote for an idea,” Albanese said.

“Vote Yes to an invitation that comes directly from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people themselves.

“The Voice allow all of us to recognise Indigenous Australians and their history in our Constitution – a form of recognition that will importantly make a positive difference to their lives and their futures.”

The Prime Minister said voting No would lead “nowhere”.

“It means nothing changes. It closes the door on this chance to move forward,” he said.

“Don’t close the door on the next generation of Indigenous Australians.

“When Yes wins, all Australians will win.”

The announcement comes as the campaign to convince Australians to vote Yes is lagging in news polls. Over time, support in national polls has been falling, and recent polling by Resolve found that just 46 per cent of South Australians intend on voting in favour of the Voice.

Photo: Tony Lewis/InDaily

But an Australia Institute poll released today shows 43 per cent of South Australians now back an Indigenous voice to parliament, while 39 per cent are opposed. The remainder were evenly split, putting the ‘yes’ vote ahead at 52-48.

Speaking in Adelaide on Tuesday, Indigenous activist Noel Pearson said South Australia was a crucial swing state for the referendum.

“It’s really a linchpin, it’s been between those eastern states that are very firmly ‘yes’ and those that are still pondering what they will do at this referendum,” he said.

The referendum is also likely going to turn on whether the Yes campaign can mobilise enough younger voters. Polls suggest that those aged 55 and over are entrenched toward voting No, while those aged 18 to 34 are more likely to vote Yes.

The Yes campaign is not without backers of its own however; the Prime Minister has long been a powerful endorser of the Voice, and business leaders and organisations nationally and in South Australia have come forward over the last few months to back the Yes movement.

On the other side of the aisle, Liberal Senator Jacinta Price is leading the No campaign with Warren Mundine, arguing that the Voice won’t deliver meaningful change for Indigenous Australians.

The No camp including Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says the Voice is “not the answer” to the issues faced by Indigenous people, and that details about the proposed advisory body “have not been provided”.

“This would be the biggest change to our democracy in Australia’s history. It is a leap into the unknown. This Voice has not been road tested. There is no comparable constitutional body like this anywhere in the world,” the No side’s argument reads in the official referendum pamphlet.