Paul Kelly, Spiderbait, Missy Higgins & More Lead ‘Walk For Yes’ Campaign Concerts

A suite of enormous concerts will help push the Yes campaign for the 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice Referendum, with legendary acts like Paul Kelly, Missy Higgins and Spiderbait all vouching their support with free performances.

Announced today (September 13) were five shows tied in to Yes23’s Walk For Yes events. Kelly will perform at the Victoria Square rally in Tarntanya/Adelaide this Saturday (September 16), taking to a makeshift stage alongside Emma Donovan and Marlon Motlop. Higgins, on the other hand, will perform alongside Dan Sultan at Eora/Sydney’s Redfern Park the following day (September 17).

Also on Sunday will be Spiderbait’s show in Naarm/Melbourne, which features the biggest lineup of any Walk For Yes event – joining the timeless rockers at the Treasury Gardens will be Midnight Oil icon Peter Garrett, Mia Wray and Marlon Motlop. Meanwhile, at the South Bank Cultural Forecourt in Meanjin/Brisbane, Toni Janke will perform ahead of a joint set from Bernard Fanning and Busby Marou. And last but certainly not least, John Butler and Phil Walleystack will deliver their own sets at the Victoria Gardens in Boorloo/Perth.

All five of the shows will be free to attend via registration – you can file your interest here – with more performances set to be announced over the coming days. Additional Walk For Yes events will be held in Ngambri/Canberra and nipaluna/Hobart on Sunday.

The performances come in tandem with the launch of Music For The Voice, a campaign encouraging Australian music fans to support the Indigenous Voice to Parliament (aka The Voice). Central to the campaign is a joint statement that members of the public can cosign, as well as a push for social activism through online posting and repping merchandise that supports The Voice. More information on Music For The Voice can be found here.

Kelly has already voiced his support for the Yes campaign, writing in a statement he shared last month (alongside the accompanying single If Not Now): “This country is my home. This beautiful country, unique in all the world. Our First Australians looked after it and shaped it for over 60,000 years and, in doing so, developed a rich and complex culture that is a gift to us all.”

The Australian Indigenous Voice Referendum will be held on Saturday October 14. If successful, The Voice will be an independent and permanent advisory body led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who will advise the Australian Parliament and Governments on issues that directly face their communities. The Voice body will be chosen by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, with the wishes of their communities represented.