Fremantle Dockers captain Alex Pearce makes impassioned plea to voters ahead of Voice to Parliament referendum

Fremantle Dockers captain Alex Pearce has delivered an impassioned plea to voters as the clock ticks down to the Voice referendum, urging Australians to cut through the “fear and distrust” of the No campaign and read up on the simple proposal.

The proud Palawa man from Tasmania, who considers himself a “dual citizen” after moving to WA aged 18 for the club’s 2013 draft, has appeared at events backing the proposed Indigenous advisory body to Parliament but not detailed his views on it with the media until now.

With the Dockers now finished for the 2023 AFL season, he said he couldn’t depart for a well-earned European holiday without speaking up ahead of the October 14 vote.

Pearce said he was disappointed that polls had shown a slide in support for the Voice over recent months, with the No campaign starting earlier than the Yes.

“It feels like they’ve been able to feed their message of fear and distrust and uncertainty and just throw a lot of different things at the conversation and really muddy the waters about what it is going to do,” he told The West Australian.

“What should be a real celebration all of a sudden now, it feels like it’s just become this huge divisive issue, and it really shouldn’t be.

“I don’t feel like it’s as complicated as what it’s been made out. I see it as something that’s really quite simple.

“And this hasn’t come from the blue . . . it’s taken a long time to get to that point where we are now.”

Pearce noted that much of the No sentiment stemmed from a deep distrust of politicians. But he pointed to the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart that proposed the Voice, written by Indigenous leaders from around the nation after deep discussions about how to close the massive gap in disadvantage.

“They came up with his idea and this way for us to move forward as a nation. It wasn’t the politicians’ idea,” he said.

“After generations where we have failed Indigenous Australians, now we’ve asked them, ‘OK, how do we help you?’ And this is what they’ve said.

“It’s a really important, powerful statement. This has been decades in the making.

“This is the chance, this is our opportunity . . . to come together and to implement something that can have meaningful change. We just have to take it.”

The softly spoken Pearce, who towers with a height of nearly 2m, said he had faith Australians would vote in favour of the Voice, but it had been a hard road for Yes campaigners given the effective rhetoric of the No camp, which used the slogan “If you don’t know, vote No”.

“If you don’t understand it, then read a little bit, learn a little bit about what it is — it doesn’t really take too much,” he said, urging voters to look beyond just a headline, an opinion piece or a glance at social media before making their decision.

“I’m not here telling people what to do. I’m just explaining how I think about this because it’s a really important moment in our history.

“You want Australia that’s more united, more together, more equitable. This is our chance.”

The Dockers’ No. 1 key defender indicated that the thought of defeat was painful, saying it would mean “stepping backwards as a nation”.

“I know we can’t change what’s happened in the last few months and where the conversation has got to, but all we can hopefully try and do is educate people and say ‘Well, this is actually what it is’,” he said.

“Let’s put away all the different voices sowing doubt.”

Pearce said he had experienced with the Dockers, and being part of the broader AFL, how consulting Indigenous voices and having a Reconciliation Action Plan worked.

“It’s not being scared of getting advice from Indigenous people and helping that shape the way we do business and the way we operate.

“We’ve seen the success that that can have.”

He added that being part of a club with such an ethos and also surrounded by strong Indigenous leaders in his home suburb of Fremantle had helped him embrace his culture, coming from a State with probably Australia’s most tragic Indigenous history and fewer prominent Indigenous leaders.

“It’s strengthened my ties to my home and to my family back in Tassie.”