Wagga Aboriginal woman Karen Kime backs Voice to Parliament to honour grandfather's struggle for justice

Wagga grandmother and Anglican minister Karen Kime, 67, hails from a family that has fought hard for the rights of First Nations people.

In 1938, Reverend Kime's grandfather Edward (Ted) Duncan was involved in the first Australia Day protest in Sydney as the nation marked 150 years since the arrival of the First Fleet. This came to be known as the first Day of Mourning.

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Mr Duncan also played a pivotal role in the formation of the first all-Aboriginal rugby league team the Redfern All Blacks and spent two years fundraising until it came to be a reality in the mid-1940s. That team included Wiradjuri players.

On October 14, Australians will vote on whether to change the constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing a body called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.

People will be asked to vote "yes" or "no" to the question: "A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. Do you approve this proposed alteration?"

For Reverend Kime, voting yes in the upcoming referendum honours the efforts of her ancestors to fight for justice.

"As an Aboriginal person, I follow the example of my ancestors, and my family has a really long history of that struggle [for equality]," she said.

Reverend Kime said it would be going against her family's struggle for human rights if she decided to vote no.

"I really believe it is the right thing to do," she said.

Reverend Kime also spoke out against the "divisive" comments from those opposing the constitutional change.

"I really believe the opposition in the no campaign are very divisive in their comments," she said.

"I think it's really important we don't go down that path of division, because that's what they are technically doing."

The comments come on the back of the region's first formal Vote No event.

At the Vote No! Voice to Parliament event on Tuesday, local Aboriginal woman and Voice opponent Paula Murphy said the debate was "dividing" white and black people.

But Reverend Kime harked back again to the past and said the Voice will help advance Aboriginal rights into the future.

Reflecting on a recent walk she had with an Aboriginal elder along the banks of the Murrumbidgee River, Reverend Kime recalled he was "full of stories" as he showed her his old home, initiation places and where they used to get "bush tucker."

But upon asking if he had an education, the elder's answer to her was very striking.

"He said he didn't get an education because the bus driver refused to pick up black kids," Reverend Kime said.

Wading into the debate over the Voice, Reverend Kime countered concerns from the Vote No camp that the constitutional amendment is not needed and would create an advisory body with a lack of accountability.

Instead, she said constitutional recognition would actually create more accountability.

"The Voice will bring greater accountability [to the present government] and that's what is missing," she said.

Reverend Kime said this will help address issues such as the "incarceration of our people" and the "ongoing removal of our children."

While noting that work to close the gap has produced great results in certain areas including employment, health and education, she said it has "failed miserably" in these two areas.

A 2021 Australian Law Reform Commission report into the nation's justice system found Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are overall 12 times more likely to be in prison than non-Indigenous people.

A 2020 report by the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC) found in the years since the national apology of 2008, the number of children being removed from family and kin continued to grow.

It comes as Wagga Vote Yes campaign organiser Nick Spragg also reiterated why he supports the constitutional change.

Mr Spragg said the "root cause" for supporting the Voice is that it will play an important role in "providing input on laws made by parliament for Aboriginal people."

"It's going to be focusing on education, health, incarceration and life outcomes," he said.

Early voting for the referendum begins on Tuesday, October 3.

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