On the day hundreds of Australian citizens lined up outside of Old Parliament House in Canberra preparing to vote on the Voice to Parliament, Ngunnawal and Wiradjuri Elder Uncle Billy Tompkins at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy spoke with National Indigenous Times.

Uncle Billy Tompkins is highly respected in the Canberra First Nations community and actively involved in supporting community initiatives.

He attended the Uluru Dialogue in person and signed the Statement of the Heart, and was "all for it" at the start of the process, but became disheartened over time.

"When the Prime Minister first put out the referendum for the Yes Vote on the voice to parliament, I was thinking why can't just the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mob vote, instead of all of Australia?" he asked.

"This is our voice to parliament not theirs, we want a Black voice in parliament not a non-Indigenous voice to parliament, so I don't know why they're asking non-Indigenous people to vote so that we can have a voice.

"It should be only Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders voting on what we want in parliament and having that right to determine our self-determination. But we're not getting it."

Uncle Billy said that to move forward truth-telling is needed, beginning in schools.

"So a lot of these people that have come here to live from other countries, they're not taught in schools that we are the first sovereign people of this, of this land," he said.

"They call it Australia, we-we call it our country, we got Ngunnawal Country, we got Ngambri Country, we got Wiradjuri Country, we already got names for our country. But they call it Australia.

"Looking at Sovereignty and voice to parliament it just baffles me as to why they can't be straight down the line truth-telling about who are the rightful owners of this country and form a treaty"

Uncle Billy said "a lot of clan groups a lot of mob all around Australia want a treaty".

"I think we need to treaty within ourselves first, you know, because there's a lot of disunity...all around the country.

"A lot of clans don't get on with other clans and that's where we need to unite together on that point, and form treaties within our own countries, then look at forming a treaty with the government."

Uncle Billy noted the British had a long history of dividing indigenous populations to conquer their lands.

He spoke positively of his friendship with Thomas Mayo, which dates back to playing football together in the nineties, and said the Uluru Statement of the Heart was all about "our mob getting together".

"We don't need white bureaucrats coming between us and having that conquer and divide, you know, outlook," he said.

Uncle Billy suggested Prime Minister Anthony Albanese should have done more to explain the need for a Voice and how it would operate.

Asked what outcome he was hoping for from the referendum Uncle Billy said that he, like every other Indigenous person, just wants the best for his people.

"Why has it taken this long, to ask for a voice in parliament?" he said.

He drew attention to the languages, song and dance that were taken away from First Nations people in Australia and said they are slowly being built back. He said truth-telling would make Australia a better place.

Uncle Billy spoke proudly of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy which since 1972 has fought to end Black Deaths in Custody, and to pursue Land Rights, among other causes.

You can hear Uncle Billy's voice by listening to the yarn via the video below.

Uncle Billy Tompkins at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy on Referendum Day 14th October. (Audio: Jess Whaler - National Indigenous Times)