Forum focuses on yes vote

AHEAD of the upcoming Indigenous voice to parliament referendum, members of the Victorian Women’s Trust were in Ballarat earlier this week as part of their Together, Yes campaign.

Hosting a community information session at the Mercure, VWT executive director Mary Crooks said the trust’s aim was to brief locals on their discussion process which has been built to “bring the referendum home.”

“We’re not a neutral party here,” she said. “We’re strongly and firmly advocating for a yes vote, and we think we have a method through our kitchen table conversations model, which we’ve been running for over 20 years.

“It’s a method that can really assist people to clarify their thinking, listen and learn with one another, cut through the noise and the negativity that’s out there, and have people feel more self-confident and assured that if they go to a position where they vote yes they’re not feeling ambiguous, confused, or uncertain.

“If they go through our process and they still don’t vote yes, fine, and we hope that they’ve learnt something.”

Trust members are encouraging people to host a kitchen table conversation, which is designed to be a safe space for people to have discussions about the referendum, and to “join the dots” with some structured prompts.

“A conversation host is expected to bring eight or nine other people together, and the groups are expected to meet twice, at home or in a community space,” Ms Crooks said.

“We provide materials they work with, so it’s not an open, free-ranging conversation. It’s actually the group working through activities that are deliberately designed to help people do a deep dive.”

Together, Yes is partnered with the Yes 23 campaign.