A Liberal MP has made a last-ditch plea for voters to cast a 'yes' ballot in the voice referendum, saying Australians should lift up their eyes and see the challenges their Indigenous brothers and sisters face.
Former shadow attorney-general Julian Leeser, who stood down from the frontbench to support the voice and oppose the Liberals' 'no' stance, reflected on perceptions of the referendum debate as "divisive" during a lecture at the Australian Catholic University on Wednesday.
He called on Australians to consider difference as an integral part of democracy, and urged them to approach change with hope rather than fear.
"I know there are great pressures on Australians. This is not an easy time with financial pressures, stagnant wages, and wars and conflict in the world," Mr Leeser said in the speech.
"In such a time, the temptation is to say no more change.
"But this is a time when we need Australians need to lift up their eyes and see the challenges that our Indigenous brothers and sisters face."
Saturday's referendum was a "moment of consequence" after far too long of Australia failing its first peoples, Mr Leeser said.
It was a time to reflect, to emphatically engage and to listen to silenced voices, he said.
"This Saturday, join us in our work to get Indigenous Australians to the same starting line that other Australians are at," the member for Berowra said.
"That is what this referendum is about."
Mr Leeser is one of few Liberals campaigning for a 'yes' vote in the voice referendum.
On Wednesday, ex-MP Pat Farmer reached Uluru after a trek of more than 14,000km over six months in support of the voice.
The former Liberal MP choked back tears as he described the final stages in reaching the spiritual heart of the country.
Labor senator Pat Dodson - who is known as the father of reconciliation for his prolonged advocacy - made a rare public appearance as he battles cancer to urge Australians to vote 'yes'.
"You can't live in your own country and not be recognised," Senator Dodson told the National Press Club.
"Are the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people going to be at the table or pick up the crumbs as we have been for the last 200 years?"
'No' campaigner Warren Mundine told ABC Radio he rejected suggestions reconciliation with Indigenous Australians would not be possible should the referendum fail.
Cassandra Morgan - AAP
