The Minister for Indigenous Australians emotional as she took to the stage on the last day of the Labor Party's national conference. Linda Burney rallied for support in the government's campaign for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
"Delegates, I can't win this on my own. We must do it together. We need to get out there, to knock on doors, to have the conversations in your communities."
A policy for Voice, Treaty and Truth was clearly the focus of the forum's final day in Brisbane.
The Prime Minister used his penultimate speech to plead with members to get out and win hearts and minds.
"All of you here in this room and across the great breadth of our movement, have put up your hand and shown your willingness to get involved, to walk the talk, to make a difference. I want you to get out there and campaign like you've never campaigned before."
Victorian Labor Member and Yorta Yorta woman Sheena Watt echoed these calls.
"When each and every one of you in this room wake up the days after the referendum. I want you to ask yourself a question: Did I give it my absolute to show solidarity with my First Nations comrades? The answer better be...YES!"
Meanwhile, those opposing the yes vote were rallying their own support.
At the Conservative Political Action Conference in Sydney on Saturday, former Prime MInister Tony Abbott argued a Voice would enshrine victim-hood into the constitution.
Opposition Indigenous Minister Jacinta Nampajimpa Price also stood firmly against the Prime Minister's referendum.
"There's been absolutely nothing done to improve the lives of our most marginalised Australians. And instead we have a Prime Minister so concerned about his own popularity that he's willing to tear apart the country for some applause from the media and of course his corporate elite mates....shame."
Political opposition also came from as the Greens gate-crashed Labor's party, demanding more action on housing.
Greens MP and prominent spokesperson for renters, Max Chandler Mather, condemned the government's housing policy.
"This rally today is just a warning shot across the bow of a Labor party that have really decided they are going to abandon the one third of people around the country that rents. They are locking in $39 billion in tax concessions for property investors, and they're telling renters they have to cop an extra $5 billion a year in rent increases, and people are not going to put up with that."
Labor also had to contend with disagreements within their own party over the course of the three-day conference.
The Prime Minister managed to secure enough support for the $368 billion Aukus nuclear submarine deal, despite around one quarter of delegates expressing noisy opposition to the deal.
The Aukus motion was carried on voices, meaning there was no counting of cards.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, in a surprise move, made the case for Aukus, following on from Defence Minister Richard Marles.
"And I have come to the position based upon advice and analysis that nuclear-powered submarines are what Australia needs in the future. Submarines whose importance in our defence capability as an island continent will grow over time."
Delegates couldn't agree on a super profits tax - a tax on 40 per cent of excess profits, but passed a motion to increase government investment in social and affordable housing with funding from a progressive and sustainable tax system.
Also on the agenda for the conference were amendments to grant asylum seekers study and work rights while their protection claims are processed.
There were also commitments to increase foreign aid and address the pressures surrounding university debt for young people.
Those wanting further changes to the party’s platform will have to wait for the next national conference in three years.
