The Yes campaign ramps up in Port Hedland with a visit from the WA Voice to Parliament ambassador

The campaign for a Yes vote ramped up in Port Hedland this week with a visit by the WA ambassador for an Aboriginal Voice to Parliament. Guburn woman Kyra Galante was in town to take part in the On Country Meeting at Yule River which serves as a dialogue between the Pilbara’s First Nations community and government officials. Her job as the State ambassador for a Voice to Parliament is to ensure the public is fully informed on what the referendum entails. She said it was important to make sure any concerns about the referendum were addressed at Yule River. “I think it’s more important for us to listen to their concerns if there are any, and we just really want them to understand what this coming referendum is, and then answer any of their questions,” Ms Galante said. “It’s about creating a space for them to fully understand because this is about our people. This is a defining moment for our people in our country.” Ms Galante said her passion for advocacy came from the challenges she faced growing up and being the subject of racism. Previously as ambassador, she had travelled to the Goldfields and said that each region provided a unique perspective. “The challenges are similar, but I think it’s important for us to listen and learn exactly for this region, which is different, and we won’t know until we hear what they tell us,” she said. “So it’s more about us listening and understanding and then explaining how the voice will actually support them.” Ms Galante holds a degree in Indigenous community management and development and has had a 20-year career in community development and mining. She said that a Yes vote will be a step closer to reducing the Indigenous disadvantage gap, reducing over-representation of incarceration, building cultural frameworks for organisations to operate in, and creating a deeper understanding of Indigenous people. Ms Galante said she was confident in Australia to vote Yes once people understood why it was important. “I see a lot of goodwill from Australian people, once they understand the facts around why this is important for us, and once we create the space for them to ask questions to be well informed,” she said. “It’s important to be able to refer them to where the reports are around what we’re talking about and understanding Australian history and that we want to unite our country because this is what this is about. “Our constitution is not completed because we’re not there.” After her visit to Hedland, Ms Galante will head back to Perth to hold more events around the Yes campaign. Ms Galante is the State’s first Voice to Parliament ambassador and she said there were plans to add more.