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AFL legend Michael Long has put on his boots again, this time to walk from Melbourne to Canberra to raise awareness for an Indigenous Voice to parliament, which he says is crucial to improving the wellbeing of First Peoples.

Long left Melbourne Town Hall at noon on Sunday, leading a crowd of about 400 supporters decked out in Yes campaign merchandise and holding signs.

Former Essendon footballer Michael Long embarks on his 650-kilometre trek from Melbourne to Canberra in support of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament.Credit: Chris Hopkins/The Age

It comes as the Yes and No campaigns ramp up efforts ahead of the October referendum to enshrine an Indigenous Voice in the Constitution. The exact date is to be announced this week.

“I’m asking Australians to lace up their shoes, [and] come walk with me. And vote Yes,” Long said.

“It’s nearly 20 years since my first Long Walk. Back then, I walked to ask the [then] prime minister John Howard three questions: Where was the love for the First Nations people? Where is the voice? Where is the vision for Indigenous Australia? Today, as we prepare to vote in the referendum, we are still asking the same questions.”

Among the faces at the front of the parade was former Labor senator and Olympian Nova Peris, former Essendon coaching great Kevin Sheedy, Greens leaders Adam Bandt and Dorinda Cox, and former Victorian treaty commissioner Jill Gallagher.

Long’s 650-kilometre trek is due to finish in Canberra on September 14.

The 53-year-old invited schools, sporting bodies, corporations and community groups to join him on his walk through 17 regional towns in Victoria and NSW. He also extended an invitation to Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, who opposes the Voice.

“We’ve always worked with both parties and we’ll continue to do that. It’s not a perfect world we live in, but there’s an opportunity to try and make a change,” Long said.

Earlier in the day, at Melbourne Town Hall, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews urged Australians to vote Yes for the Voice.

“We’ve tried telling Aboriginal people how it ought to be. We’ve done that for a long time, and that is not working. So, let’s try something different. Let’s listen to Aboriginal people, let’s involve them. That’s not a radical thing,” said Andrews, who also announced his government had donated $250,000 to the Michael Long Foundation, which funds education and football programs for Indigenous people.

Long is due to arrive in Canberra on September 14.Credit: Chris Hopkins/The Age

Andrews was joined by federal Government Services Minister Bill Shorten and ACTU president Michelle O’Neil.

Shorten, who joined Long on his first walk to Canberra in 2004, said First Nations people needed to be recognised in the Constitution.

“The argument that this Constitution is sacred, can never be changed, is not actually true and was never intended by the designers of the Constitution,” Shorten said.

O’Neil said the trade union movement had committed to supporting the Yes campaign.

“We’re doing absolutely everything we can to make sure that in workplaces, homes, communities around the country, every day people are having conversations about why this is important,” she said.

In her Welcome to Country, Wurundjeri elder Aunty Joy Murphy Wandin said she was concerned about a drop in popularity for a Yes vote in the polls over recent weeks.

“We shouldn’t have to be doing this. We should be recognised already in the Constitution … [but] I’m doubtful about the vote,” Murphy said.

Yes23 director Dean Parkin said the campaign had arrived at a sliding-doors moment where action was needed.

“We’re going to wake up some time in October … and we’re going to have to ask ourselves the question: ‘Did we do everything we possibly could to throw ourselves in and commit to a Yes vote?’”

He said the Yes23 campaign had recently been boosted by 30,000 new volunteers across Australia talking directly to undecided voters.

Parkin said the campaign had identified that about 40 per cent of voters were still undecided.

When Long first set off for Canberra on foot 20 years ago, the Howard government had introduced a bill to abolish the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission.

A tragic series of deaths in his community spurred Long’s motivation to try to put Aboriginal issues on the national agenda.

About the same time, the Howard government established the short-lived National Indigenous Council and invited Long to join. He turned down the offer and instead began walking to Canberra.

Ten days and 325 kilometres into the walk, Howard granted Long a meeting.

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