Jim Chalmers concedes it will be ‘really hard’ to convince Queenslanders on the Voice

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will announce the referendum date, expected to be 14 October, in the key battleground state of South Australia next week.

“I think it will be especially hard in Queensland and I’ve never pretended otherwise.”

Queensland loss would leave Yes camp with narrow path

In that scenario, one of NSW, Tasmania, SA or Victoria voting against the Voice would sink the proposal, even if an overall majority of Australians backed it.

Referendum working group member Thomas Mayo is confident of winning all six states. Source: AAP / Dan Himbrechts

And Albanese’s choice of South Australia to announce the referendum date is believed to have been made with a view to shoring up support in the state, where Newspoll had the Yes camp leading 48-42.

Despite Chalmers’ pessimism, Voice working group member Thomas Mayo insisted the Yes camp could “win every state”.

“We’re not taking any state for granted … We want to win six out of six states, and we’re confident that we can do it with our volunteers all across the country,” he said.

Sarah Henderson says Australians are being turned off by Labor’s trickery and deceit’ over the Voice. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas

Albanese insists full details on how the Voice would operate will be worked through in consultation after a successful referendum.

“The government is not being clear, and that’s why we’re seeing the change in the polls. But we take nothing for granted. We don’t believe this is in the best interests of Indigenous Australians.”