Monday 26 September 2022 01:56 AM First Indigenous Voice to Parliament advertisement tells Australians to make ... trends now

The first ad for the Indigenous Voice to Parliament campaign makes an emotional pitch for a grassroots rallying from everyday Australians to 'make right' the injustice that First Peoples have 'no say in matters that affect them'.

The Voice to Parliament is a proposed body that will advise federal parliament on matters concerning Indigenous people. 

The new ad, which was shot near Alice Springs, features Pitjantjatjara and Nyungar playwright and actor Trevor Jamieson talking to a group of seated Indigenous children in an outback setting, as if around a campfire.

 'I've got a story to tell you. It's a good one,' Jamieson says.

 'It's about how these people, the First People, got a voice.'

Scenes then cut between an Asian grandmother cooking with her grandchildren and a dad with helping his son repair a bike as they talk at some future point about how they proudly voted 'yes' in the referendum. 

Jamieson then says Indigenous people have 'no voice. No say in matters which affected them. It wasn't right.'

The ad shows a grassroots swell of mostly young people showing their support for a yes vote by texting, phoning, talking in the street and getting a tattoo. 

'Everyone walked side-by-side,' says the elderly Asian woman.

'And that's how we changed this country for the better, how we made history' Jamieson continues.

'Is that story true?' one of the children asks Jamieson.

With a longing expression Jamieson answers: 'It could be.'

The ad finishes with a caption of the new campaign's tagline 'History is calling' and a last pitch to 'Vote Yes for a First Nations Voice to Parliament'.

On the Twitter account of Indigenous advocacy body the Uluru Statement Group, which funded the ad and will be running the larger campaign, the commercial had garnered 6000 views on Monday morning.

'We are proud to release our official ad as part of the History is Calling referendum education campaign,' the group tweeted. 

'You, the Australian people, can make history by supporting a First Nations Voice to Parliament.' 

The first reactions were generally positive.

 'For all those who say it happened in the past, before my time etc. Well it's now your time, let's see what you'll do now. Be on the right side, be the author of this history #VoteYes,' one of the comments read.

The ad's mostly Indigenous creators have an impressive pedigree, 

The director of photography Tyson Perkins is the grandson of ground-breaking Indigenous rights activist Charles Perkins, while the score composer, James Henry, is the grandson of famed musician Jimmy Little.

Uluru Dialogue co-chair Pat Anderson, who appears in the ad standing between two children, told The Guardian the commercial was encouraged to get Australians talking about a better future.

'Silence never made history, and history is calling,' Anderson she said.

'It's up to all Australians to answer. We call upon the nation to continue walking with us on this final stretch to a better future.'

Meanwhile, Indigenous Affairs Minister Linda Burney has provided more detail on what areas the proposed Indigenous Voice to Parliament would cover and how it would work.