Two massive music icons join the Yes Campaign
With three weeks to go before the nation votes to decide on whether the constitution should be changed to establish an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, two music legends have joined the Yes campaign.
Australian singer Kamahl has flipped his initial No vote to a Yes within a week, after “sleepless nights weighing the pros and cons."
The singer took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share the reasons why he had a change of heart.
“I'm damned if Vote YES and I'll be damned if I Vote NO ! Having spent sleepless nights weighing the pros and cons, I'll be damned and I'll Vote YES !” he wrote.
“Coincidentally I was in ‘Journey out of Darkness’ in 1967 as the Aboriginal prisoner, just before THE Referendum”.
Just last week the music icon encouraged his followers to vote No in the referendum by changing the lyrics to John Farnham’s song You’re the Voice to “What’s the Voice, I just don’t understand it. It’s just noise and it’s not clear. Vote no-o-oh-oh, o-o-o."
“We’re not going to vote Apartheid. We don’t want one race privilege. Vote no-o-oh-oh," he sang.
The 88-year-old flipped his vote after meeting Indigenous comedian Dane Simpson and constitutional lawyer Eddie Synot and listening to their arguments.
“I’m embarrassed, until Monday or Tuesday I didn’t realise they (Indigenous people) were considered not human,” he said, after Simpson and Synot explained the voice to Kamahl.
“I can’t …For me, it is a heart and mind thing,” he said, while breaking down into tears.
The singer explained to Simpson and Synot that he was hesitant to speak up because he had "insufficient knowledge on how the whole thing works”.
In a sensational backflip on the issue, the singer also added that he hoped that "the right people with the right mind, heart, ability and knowledge make it a reality," and wished that there was a way of "doing it without looking like a race of people were being advantaged.”
“At the end of the day, I am here to help rather than hinder. If the Yes vote helps, then so be it,” he said.
“It is a positive thing to do. I don’t think I would achieve anything by voting No … if there is good I can do, I would rather do it than regret it another time.”
The Sounds of Goodbye singer is not the only one backing the Yes campaign. On the other side of the world, American rapper MC Hammer – famous for his number one hit song U Can't Touch This – has shared his support for the Yes campaign ahead of the Voice referendum.
“I’m with you. Australia it’s time. Repair the breach. #Yes2023,” the rapper tweeted.
The 61-year-old admitted that he didn't know what the Voice referendum was until one of his followers brought it up in a post shared on the platform.
“Australia has no treaty with its Indigenous people, and has done little in comparison to other British dominions like Canada, New Zealand and the United States to include and uplift its First Nations people,” he said.
He then quoted human rights lawyer Professor Megan Davis, one of the most central figures of the Yes campaign.
“A successful referendum will set a precedent that will be “really useful for other indigenous populations around the world in relation to recognition,” he quoted the human rights lawyer.
This comes just days after Cathy Freeman shared her stance on the Voice and asked Aussies to "stand together and to show our support for Australians who need it the most."
Images: Getty