Top Liberal enlisted to help lead Yes team as volunteer army readies to spruik Voice

Senior government and Indigenous figures who support the Voice to parliament have been frustrated by the speed of the Yes campaign’s mobilisation. However, despite published polling showing a steady decrease in support for the Voice, these people remain confident the community will get behind the idea as more resources were spent to win votes.

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The Labor Party’s organisational machine will supplement the Yes campaign through door knocking and phone calls without encroaching into the domain of Yes23 and another campaign group called the Uluru Dialogues, which is led by Professor Megan Davis.

Separate from the Yes23 campaign effort, the government plans to use a series of high-profile Indigenous festivals and events to bring energy and attention to the reconciliation push, much of which will occur after a key referendum bill passes the parliament in June.

Government sources, speaking anonymously to detail unconfirmed plans, said Albanese would likely attend events such as the Barunga Festival, which is celebrating the 35th anniversary of when the late Yunupingu handed then-prime minister Bob Hawke the famous Barunga Statement.

In July, NAIDOC Week will be dominated by Voice discussion, Indigenous Affairs Minister Linda Burney is set to address the press club, and the Laura Quinkan Indigenous Dance Festival will be held.

The Garma Festival in August, at which Albanese last year announced the proposed constitutional alteration, is expected to draw significant attention. Some categories of tickets are sold out and campaign sources said there was a chance Albanese will use this event to announce the referendum date – likely to be in October after the NRL and AFL grand finals at which Voice campaigners hope the Voice will be spruiked.

Albanese – who is keen to maintain focus on bread-and-butter issues as he attends semi-regular Indigenous events to add momentum to the referendum – will also give a keynote speech at the Lowitja O’Donoghue Oration in Adelaide later this month.

The government hopes to draw upon premiers Chris Minns in NSW, Mark McGowan in Western Australia, Annastacia Palaszczuk in Queensland and Peter Malinauskas in South Australia to campaign for the Voice, government sources said.

Frost, Yes23’s new chief operations officer, will join former senior Labor staffer and union chief executive Paul Murphy and Indigenous campaigner and board director Kara Keys in the senior ranks of Yes23.

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Frost is a prominent name in Coalition circles, having served on campaigns since 2001 and worked closely with federal party bosses Tony Nutt and Andrew Hirst. He most recently worked on Frydenberg’s unsuccessful Kooyong campaign.

The Yes23 group has also gained the expertise of Benn Ayre, a former adviser to ex-Liberal premier Dominic Perrottet and federal frontbencher Simon Birmingham.

Frost and Ayre add to the Liberal influence in the pro-Voice machine, which is backed by Crosby Textor and its founder Mark Textor, a prominent centre-right political strategist.

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