For many Australians, 2023 was the year of the Voice to Parliament referendum. <\/p>\n
As the last voters head to the ballot boxtoday to have their say, here's a look back in pictures at how we got here. <\/p>\n
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the nameandimage of an Indigenous person who hasdied. <\/p>\n
On March 23, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese fronted themediato announcethe wording of the question Australians would be asked attheVoice to Parliament referendum. <\/p>\n
Choking back tears, andsurrounded by Yes campaign advocates including Thomas Mayo and Marcia Langton, he also announced the constitutional changes that would be made if the Voice succeeded. <\/p>\n
\"For many, this moment has become a very long time in the making,\" he said. <\/p>\n
After, Opposition Leader Peter Duttonspoke alongsidehis then-shadow attorney-general and IndigenousAustralians minister Julian Leeser. <\/p>\n
They called for the solicitor-general's advice on the wording to be made public. <\/p>\n
But Mr Dutton said the Liberals had not yet decided their stance on the Voice, despite Coalition partners the Nationals announcing their opposition back in November. <\/p>\n
That changed just a few weeks later. In April, Mr Dutton announced the Liberal Party's formal opposition tothe Voice proposal. <\/p>\n
Mr Dutton said while the opposition supported recognition of First Nations people in the constitution, it did not support a constitutionally enshrined consultative body. <\/p>\n
\"It should be very clear to Australians by now that the prime minister is dividing the country and the Liberal Party seeks to unite the country,\" he said. <\/p>\n
TheLiberals' decisionled toformer Indigenous Affairs minister Ken Wyatt quitting the party the next day,and Mr Leeser quitting the Liberal frontbench a week later. <\/p>\n
Both went on to becomeprominent advocates for the Yes vote. <\/p>\n
Party politics on the issue also had an impact on the left,whenLidia Thorpe resigned from the Greens earlier in theyear over the party's support for the Voice. <\/p>\n
In April, following Mr Leeser's resignation, Mr Dutton announced his new shadow frontbench, which included Northern Territory senator and prominent Nocampaigner Jacinta Nampijinpa Price as the new shadow minister for Indigenous Australians. <\/p>\n
The pair had recently returned from a visit to Ms Price's hometown of Alice Springs, which hadbeen suffering from skyrocketing crime rates. <\/p>\n
In late May, the billto set up the referendum passed the House of Representatives, with 121 members voting in support and 25 against. <\/p>\n
It passed the Senate the next month, following passionate debate 52 votes for and19 against. <\/p>\n
The Senate chamber erupted in applause as president Sue Lines announced the result. <\/p>\n
June sawIndigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney attendtheBarunga Festival in the Northern Territory. <\/p>\n
The event marked the 35-year anniversary of Indigenous leaders presenting the Barunga Statement to then-prime minister Bob Hawke,calling for a treaty and formal recognition of the rights of Indigenous people. <\/p>\n
In a nod to that statement,the territory's four Aboriginal land councils presented Ms Burney withthe Barunga Voice Declaration, a document urgingall Australians to support an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. <\/p>\n
At Australia's other major First Nations festival, Garma,in early August, Mr Albanese promised the Voice referendum would be held in 2023. <\/p>\n
It was the first Garma Festival since thepassing of event co-founder and Aboriginal land rights leader Yunupiu in April. <\/p>\n
There, Mr Albanese met with the Dilak Council a decision-making body made up of senior Yolu leaders representing 13 clan groups from the regionwhich he saidcould be a model for a Voice to Parliament. <\/p>\n
Later that month, the Liberal Party launched theirNo vote campaign in Perth, attended by morethan 1,000 people. <\/p>\n
Ms Price, prominent No campaigner Warren Mundine, Shadow Attorney-General Michaelia Cashand Shadow Minister for Child Protectionand the Prevention of Family Violence Kerrynne Liddle were all in attendance. <\/p>\n
\"This proposal is about dividing on the lines of race,\" Ms Price told the crowd. <\/p>\n
At the end of August, the Yes campaign ramped up when Mr Albanese announced the referendum date October 14 at an event in Adelaide attended by hundreds of Yes supporters. <\/p>\n
\"On that day, every Australian will have a once-in-a-generation chance to bring our country together and to change it for the better,\" he said. <\/p>\n
In September, Marcia Langton gave an address at the National Press Club, callingout abuse directed towards Yes campaigners in the lead-up to the referendum. <\/p>\n
She made headlines around a week later forhittingback against claims she said No voters were racist. <\/p>\n
Ms Langtonsaid her comments, which were made at a voters'forum, had been misreportedand she hadinstead said tactics used by the No camp were \"based in racism and stupidity\". <\/p>\n
Later that month, Ms Price delivered aspeech at the National Press Club in which she said theVoice to Parliament proposal was \"flawed in its foundations\". <\/p>\n
But her assertion there were \"no ongoing negative impacts of colonisation\" received significant backlash. <\/p>\n
Beyond the official Yes and No campaigns, grassroots movements were takinghold across the country in the lead-up to the referendum. <\/p>\n
Australian of the Year Local Hero Amar Singh drove from Sydney to Darwin to engage with multicultural communities for theYes campaign, whilethe Yarrabah community in Far North Queensland called for a Yes vote through art and fashion. <\/p>\n
On the No side, community events were held, and some prominent Indigenous leaders such as Djiniyini Gondarra came out against the Voice. <\/p>\n
As the wait for the referendum entered its final weeks, both sides took to the streets to spread their message. <\/p>\n
Crowds of up to 30,000 people gathered in cities across Australia for 'Walk for Yes' rallies in September. <\/p>\n
The following weekend, unofficial No vote rallies hit the streets inSydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne and Canberra, as well as regionally in Casino, Yeppoon, Cairns and Mackay. <\/p>\n
That same month, while many people in big cities and towns were still making up their minds, those in Australia's remotest communities many of them Indigenous had already started voting. <\/p>\n
The Australian Electoral Commission began rolling outits remote voting system from September 26, using helicopters, planes, boats and four-wheel drives to traverse rugged terrain. <\/p>\n
Nearing the finish line on October 14, Ms Price cast her vote inAlice Springs on Friday, while her fellow No advocate Warren Mundine attended polling booths in Sydney on Saturday. <\/p>\n
Nationals leader David Littleproud campaigned for a No vote in Brisbane, where the rest of his campaign is set to join him on Saturday night. <\/p>\n
Ms Thorpe cast her vote in Melbourne's northern suburbs on Saturday morning, before speaking to media. <\/p>\n
All of the most prominent members of the Yes camp were in Sydney for some last-minute campaigning on Saturday morning, MrAlbanese. <\/p>\n
Leading Yes campaigner Thomas Mayo joined Labor politicians Malarndirri McCarthy and Tanya Plibersek at the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence in Redfern. <\/p>\n
Ms Burney cast her ballot with New South Wales Premier Chris Minns and Yes campaign director Dean Parkin in Sydney's south. <\/p>\n
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In pictures: The Indigenous Voice to Parliament debate of 2023 - ABC News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For many Australians, 2023 was the year of the Voice to Parliament referendum. As the last voters head to the ballot boxtoday to have their say, here's a look back in pictures at how we got here. WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the nameandimage of an Indigenous person who hasdied. Continue reading