‘Yes’ campaigners given free flights from Qantas so they can speak with Aussies about The Voice

Qantas boss Alan Joyce has confirmed the airline’s support for the vote in parliament, splashing the yes campaign logo on three planes and offering yes activists free flights.

The airline chief unveiled the planes with the Yes23 campaign logo at Sydney Airport on Monday morning alongside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Key Yes23 and Uluru Dialogue members will also receive free flights to regional and outlying Australia to spread the message ahead of the referendum.

“As well as adding the Yes livery to three aircraft, Qantas Group is supporting the Yes23 campaign and Uluru Dialogue teams with trips so they can engage with regional and remote Australians ahead of the referendum.”

Mr Joyce said the national carrier was “literally waving the flag” in support of the voice.

“These planes will cover a large part of the country. Every big city, every big city will see this message, which is fantastic,” Joyce said.

The livery will be carried on three aircraft: a Qantas Boeing 737, a QantasLink Dash 8 turboprop and an Airbus A320 Jetstar.

Mr Joyce said airline support for the voice was part of Qantas’ commitment to reconciliation.

In his own speech, Mr Albanese said the referendum – due to take place in October – was an opportunity to “lift our nation up”.

‘If not now when? If not us, who? he asked Australians to reflect.

“In 2023 we will give every Australian the opportunity in the weeks to come – not long now – to do this, to show respect, to uplift our whole nation and send a message to the world that we are a nation. confident and mature. ready to accept the fullness and richness of our history.

He called on Australians to think about how they would like to feel in the aftermath of the referendum.

“It will be such a wonderful time because the alternative is more or less the same – the same one that allows us to meet only four of the 19 gap reduction targets being on track,” he said. declared.

“We can do better, we must do better and we will do better when Australians vote for recognition”

Yes23 campaign manager Dean Parkin, Indigenous leader Noel Pearson and former Australian of the Year Adam Goodes also attended the event.

The former AFL star said it was essential to engage voters as soon as possible.

“We can’t have people sitting on the sidelines right now, not listening, not engaging, then two weeks before a month before they have to vote, trying to find all this information,” he said. he declares.

“We need to have these conversations now and we need to start listening to what people are thinking and saying.”

Meanwhile, opposition Indigenous Australians spokesperson Jacinta Price has called on the Prime Minister to order a forensic audit to determine gaps in funding already pledged to fill the gap.

“We can’t keep pumping money into a problem without getting the right results,” she told reporters in Brisbane.

“But this, this proposal does not suggest that it will do anything to fix the system that currently exists. This brings up a whole new layer on top of that.