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AAP
Alex Mitchell

Australia 'new nation' if voice referendum succeeds

Yes23 campaign director Dean Parkin says Australia can wake up to a new nation if 'yes' prevails. (Lukas Coch/AAP PHOTOS)

'Yes' campaigners have undertaken a frantic, cross-country blitz as they try to save an Indigenous voice referendum that looks destined for defeat.

Australia can wake up a "new nation" on Sunday, Yes23 campaign director Dean Parkin says, if it recognises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in the constitution by enshrining an advisory body.

The 'yes' and 'no' movements made their final pitches on Friday with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attending events in South Australia, Tasmania and NSW.

Things are not looking great for the 'yes' campaign, with polls from YouGov and Roy Morgan released on Thursday suggesting 'no' would poll 56 and 54 per cent respectively.

But Mr Parkin, who imagined a "united Australia that has done a profound good" should the referendum succeed, said his counterparts were getting ahead of themselves.

"The 'no' campaign has gone very quiet this week, they seem to have put the cue in the rack, they think that they've got this won," he told reporters in Canberra.

"They are taking Australian voters for granted - the 'yes' campaign absolutely is not, we're out there on the ground and we will be every minute between now and when the polls close."

Australian and Aboriginal flags seen in Canberra
Almost five million Australians have already voted in the referendum.

Earlier on Friday, fellow 'yes' voice and Indigenous leader Noel Pearson implored Australians to drop political party loyalties and think of the nation's future when they vote.

Mr Pearson added "the destiny of our children and grandchildren is at stake here".

"This is not a federal election - if you want to take the bat to Anthony Albanese, do it in two years' time at the next federal poll," he told Sky News.

The prime minister told an event in Adelaide there was "no cost to Australians showing kindness, thinking with their heart as well as their head, when they enter the polling booth tomorrow".

"Kindness costs nothing. Thinking of others costs nothing," Mr Albanese said.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton appeared to begin eulogising the proposal on Friday, declaring the prime minister had "written a cheque he couldn't cash".

Aboriginal tent embassy 'no' sign
A number of pollsters are predicting a sweeping victory for the 'no' campaign.

"The PM made a catastrophic mistake not providing the detail to Australians - he's instinctively won their hearts because Australians do want better outcomes for Indigenous Australia, but he hasn't won their minds," Mr Dutton told ABC Radio.

The opposition leader wouldn't address whether he would need to reconcile his own party after the referendum, with a string of Liberals queuing up to back 'yes' despite the party's formal 'no' position.

They include federal MPs, former prime ministers and ministers, the country's only current Liberal premier and former premiers.

Former Indigenous Australians minister Ken Wyatt was disappointed with Mr Dutton's personal involvement in the 'no' campaign and said he'd never had a serious discussion with him about the voice.

"The arguments that he's putting forward are not factual, they're contentious in order to create fear and division," Mr Wyatt told ABC Radio.

"Some of the tactics are copied out of America, the fake news, the statements of 'you'll end up paying Aboriginal people', 'you'll lose land', 'you won't be allowed to do this' ... that was never the intent."

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