Voting 'Yes' to the Aboriginal Voice to Parliament referendum drives Pat Farmer to Goulburn

Now, the proud father and his team consisting of his daughter Brooke, wife Tania, and his friend Graham Baker, are making their way to Goulburn on Saturday, August 27 to promote the 'Yes' vote.

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Mr Farmer said he was excited to meet the people of Goulburn and country NSW to share his knowledge on the topic.

"I'm really looking forward to seeing as many people as possible to answer any questions from anybody who is confused about how to vote," Mr Farmer said.

"It's about giving people the right facts so they can make an informed decision when voting time comes around."

Mr Farmer was recently greeted in Sydney by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Minister for the Environment and Water Tanya Plibersek, as well as those following his journey including members of the Sydney Swans AFL club.

Mr Farmer said he was happy to receive recognition for his efforts by the PM.

"He said that the voice is an olive branch and a gift to be shared between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to the Australian public to embrace the 60,000 years of continuous indigenous population," Mr Farmer said.

The advocate has been running on average around 80 kilometres a day to complete his course.

By the time he finishes his course, he will have run more than 14,400 kilometres across the country over six months.

Both the Prime Minister and Mr Farmer agreed the referendum was an opportunity like no other.

"The bottom line is that Australians need to take this opportunity now because we don't know when we'll be able to see one like it again," Mr Farmer said.

According to Mr Farmer, running to promote the 'Yes' vote was the perfect way to get the message across.

"We have seen recently, especially with the recent success of the Matilda's, that sport is something that unites people and everyone can relate to," he said.

"Not only that, but Australian's think nothing of distance, we are always travelling. So for me to be able to travel around the whole of the country and the people I'm meeting along the way shows that we are really reaching out to the wider community.

"If my footsteps, of one single person, can travel around the whole nation, then surely all of the people in the nation can work together towards a much better future for all of us," Mr Farmer said.

The former Member of Parliament said that it was his daughter that suggested his dedication to the cause.

"When the referendum was first mentioned Brooke suggested I do the run to promote voting 'Yes'," Mr Farmer said.

Mr Farmer said that Australia should vote 'Yes' because it's simply "the right thing to do".

"It's about time we went off in another direction and give our First Nation's people a direct Voice to Parliament to discuss the issues that affect them," he said.

The run around the country to promote the 'Yes' vote was not the first time Mr Farmer had completed an extensive trek for a cause, with the ultra-marathon runner dedicating his time in previous years to run to raise awareness for diabetes.

"Back in 1991 I ran from the top of Australia to the bottom after finding out some scary statistics and knew I had to do something about it," he said.

Mr Farmer has had a large following across the country since he started his trek earlier this year and says that he has been happy with the reception from the public across every city and town he has visited so far.

"It's great to get out and meet people across every state and tell them why we need to be voting 'Yes'," he said.

Starting off his nationwide run on the steps of townhall in Hobart on April 17, Mr Farmer and his team crossed the state where he and his crew flew to Perth to continue their trek across the mainland.

After covering much of the west coast, he is now covering the eastern seaboard where he will cover towns and cities between Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne.

He is planning to continue his journey, to end at Uluru by the time the referendum goes ahead, in October.

Mr Farmer said that he was aiming to get to what he described as the "special heart of Australia".

"I'm hoping to get there around the second week of October, just before the referendum," he said.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to support the cause he is most passionate about and you can follow the remaining months of the trek through his Facebook page.

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