Minister lends support to yes rally

FREDAL Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, Andrew Giles, was in town on Tuesday to support the local yes campaign as part of the upcoming referendum on an Indigenous voice to Parliament.

People sporting yes t-shirts and waving placards gathered at Rosalind Park to demonstrate their intent to vote yes on 14 October.

Member for Bendigo, Lisa Chesters, said she wanted the electorate to get the highest yes vote in the country.

“We are going to put into the constitution recognition of our First Nations people,” she said. “This land was never ceded and we need to acknowledge that.

Mr Giles said he was pleased to be in Bendigo to see the energy of the crowd and the time had come to recognise our First Nation’s communities in the Constitution.

“This conversation is all about respect,” he said. “It’s about recognising that there’s something very special about our country, that we are unique in having the opportunity to share this beautiful land with the world’s oldest continuous culture.”

State Member for Bendigo West, Maree Edwards, and Mayor of Bendigo Cr Andrea Metcalf were also in attendance, as well as representatives from Bendigo’s multi-cultural communities.

Abhishek Awashti, president of the Indian Association of Bendigo, said for him, voting yes was a no brainer.

“As I stand here it’s lucky that we have this opportunity to make a positive change that will be there in the constitution,” he said.

“I encourage all our multi-cultural community members to vote yes and have the conversation with others.”

Another rally is scheduled for next Wednesday 27 September at 1.45pm at Rosalind Park where Minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, is expected to attend.