Lyle Kenny stands out the front of the Docker River Store and speaks into a megaphone.
As residents sit beneath shady trees and in nearby cars, he explains that visiting journalists are hoping to speak with them about the proposed Voice to Parliament.
But during an interview, the leader says most people in Kaltukatjara (Docker River), a tiny Northern Territory community 253 kilometres west of Uluru, have never heard of the plan.
"I didn't know. I've just got a shock," Mr Kenny said.
"All these people in this community … get a shock.
"That's why we need more feedback from the government to come out, talk to us, [so] we know what's going on."
Before the end of the year, the nation will be asked to vote on the proposed Voice, which would advise the Australian parliament and government on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
But in Kaltukatjara (Docker River), many are hazy on the idea.
Ranger and traditional owner Bernard Bell had heard "a little" about it, but wanted to know more, and Lyle Giles said he was not quite sure what it was.
They believed a meeting with federal government representatives on the issue would be valuable.
"Come and look at us the Aboriginal way, like face to face," Mr Giles said.
"Sit and talk in NT or WA, or South Australia. That's what we are looking for."
Leaders call for information
Lizzie Marrkilyi Ellis has never thought of WA's vast Ngaanyatjarra lands as remote.
"Remoteness is a concept that people use to describe where we were placed — that we're a long way from the city," Dr Ellis said.
"But remoteness to us is the cities and the coastal areas and other places — that's remote for us.
"This is the only place we know that's in our memories.
"This is home."
But in her home of Warakurna — about an hour's drive west of Docker River — the Voice to Parliament remains a remote idea to many.
"I've seen it only on the television," she said.
"I'm not sure whether it's good or bad. We want more information.
"We want to ask the questions of how that Voice to Parliament is going to help us."
Dr Ellis, who is a celebrated linguist, said government policies had consistently failed her people and they deserved the chance to make an informed decision on the proposal.
"Aboriginal people need to have a say on government policies because so many government policies have been used through history since the minute Captain Cook landed here and said it was an empty land," she said.
"There are so many policies that have affected Aboriginal people's lives through history and that hasn't been for the better, it's been for the worse."
The town is represented federally by the Liberal Party's Rick Wilson, who has confirmed he will oppose the Voice proposal.
"But we never see that person," Dr Ellis said.
She also said far more local people needed to be enrolled to vote.
Daisy Tjuparntarri Ward, a respected elder who was represented in a famous Archibald Prize portrait in 2019, painted a detailed landscape to educate people about her country.
She believed the government needed to be just as committed to education about the Voice.
"We are told, 'Do it, do it, do it' and we jump, jump, jump. But why can't they ever jump to us?" she said.
"What I'm really asking is: if they will come and talk to us and if they will explain?"
'A direct line to the top'
But HM, who cannot be named for cultural reasons, believed the Voice to Parliament would help his tiny community of Cosmo Newberry, on Yilka Country, four hours north of Kalgoorlie, by elevating their thoughts to the highest levels of power.
"Usually, in the past, we've had to go to bureaucrats," he said.
"And, of course, bureaucrats, they really don't know what they're talking about in Aboriginal affairs.
"If the Voice gets through, we can have a direct line to the top to get our opinions up there.
"So they can make sure that is heard at the highest level we can and get change happening."
Federal Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney said a neutral civics information campaign about the Voice referendum would be launched in the coming months, in a range of languages including First Nations languages.
"I look forward to travelling to communities like Docker River in the months ahead, to listen to the community and work with them in the lead-up to the referendum," she said.
For many of those in these inland areas of Western Australia and the Northern Territory, that cannot come soon enough.
"Come here and talk to us and tell us — what does it mean?" Ms Ward said.
