Key Points
- The Recognise a Better Way group is one of a number campaigning against a Voice to Parliament in Australia.
- Headed by Warren Mundine, campaigners include Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce.
- A small group of Gomeroi protesters held banners outside Tamworth Town Hall, where the launch was held.
A group that says it believes in recognition of Indigenous Australians in the constitution but not through a Voice to Parliament has launched its No campaign in regional NSW.
The Recognise a Better Way group, headed by former Labor Party national president and Liberal candidate Warren Mundine, is one of several campaigning against a Voice to Parliament, which will be voted on in a national referendum later this year.
The campaign launch was held at the Tamworth Town Hall on Friday night.
Former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce, who is involved in the campaign, told ABC News ahead of the event that the "circumstances" people found themselves in should be considered, regardless of colour.
"I don't think when you go to Alice Springs you say, well the reason it’s like this is because of the colour of their skin, you'd say it's the circumstances in which they find themselves in," he said on Friday afternoon.
Mr Joyce also said "inserting a racial clause in our constitution" would take it "backwards not forwards".
He suggested that if the Voice was implemented and did not achieve the desired outcomes, Australia could face another referendum in the future to remove it.
Also involved in the campaign are Senator Pauline Hanson, former Labor minister Gary Johns, and veteran broadcaster Alan Jones.
A small group of Gomeroi women protested the arrival of Mr Joyce, Senator Hanson, and Mr Jones on their Country, saying they had "a long history of promoting discriminatory and exclusionary messages".
"Their words have real-life consequences and contribute to the ongoing racism faced by First Nations people in this country," they said in a statement.
The Voice would be a body advising the government on issues impacting First Nations Australians but would not have the power to veto laws.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has suggested the matter would go to the polls this year between October and December.
Earlier this week, he accused politicians and sections of the media of running a "scare campaign" over the Voice.
The Recognise a Better Way group suggests a three-point action plan rather than the establishment of a Voice.
Listed on the group's website, the plan calls for recognition of the prior occupation of Aboriginal people in a preamble to the constitution, the establishment of a parliamentary all-party standing committee for native title holders and support for Aboriginal community-controlled organisations.
A referendum information night being held by another senator on the same night had to change venues at the last minute due to "overwhelming demand."
The Canberra event planned by Senator David Pocock will involve discussions with Referendum Council co-chair Aunty Pat Anderson AO, and constitutional lawyer Professor Megan Davis.
The event now being held at the Canberra Theatre is expected to attract more than 1,000 people.
