Pat Farmer AM ran into Horsham on Wednesday on the last stretch of his Stawell to Horsham run to bring awareness to the Referendum and to encourage people to find out the facts before they vote.
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Mr Farmer is a professional ultramarathon runner; he has run to raise awareness about world events and issues and to raise money for causes
He wants a YES vote to give Aboriginal and Torres Strait people a voice in their own future.
He said he considered this his biggest event since the 20,000km Pole to Pole run; he's running around Australia for The Voice, from Tasmania to Uluru.
"I've met some people who have expressed fear about the unknown," he said.
"When I ask people who say they will vote NO, I ask them if they think the system that's been in place for the past 200 years has worked, and they say it hasn't," he said.
"Some people ask me why we should give this much power to such a small percentage of our population, and I say, well, they were one hundred percent of the population before we came."
Mr Farmer said the Referendum asks Australians to answer the question: "Should Aboriginal and Torres Strait people be recognised through the Constitution and have a say on issues that affect them?"
"But - if we flip the question and say Aboriginal and Torres Strait people should not have a voice in parliament on issues that affect them, it has a whole new meaning, and I haven't met anyone that agrees with that yet," he said.
He'll complete the run on October 13, the day before Australians will vote yes or no. He will have run more than 14,000km around Australia, with an average of 80km daily, equivalent to two marathons. He has had no days off in between.
Mr Farmer served 8 years as a Member of Australia's Parliament, with three years as Parliamentary Secretary for Education, Science and Training.
He was awarded the high honour of the Order of Australia, AM for contributing to ultra marathon running, politics, and charitable works.
He has raised millions of dollars for causes during his 30-year running career, including Lifeline, Cancer Council, and Diabetes Australia.
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