The words "If now now then when? If not us then who?" echoed around the grounds of Nowra's Wesley Centre as people arrived to vote in the Voice referendum.
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A flash mob choir formed among members of the Shoalhaven Alliance for Yes23 to sing Paul Kelly's If Not Now, and John Farnham's You're The Voice near the key polling place.
"Our choir are adding their voices to support the referendum to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as the first people of this land, and establish the Voice which may advise Parliament and governments on issues concerning them." said SAY23 convenor Ev Pettigrew.
"When we sing we create a great sense of happiness, well being and hope.
"That is how the country will feel if the referendum is successful," she said.
Elsewhere Mel Briggs, a midwife at South Coast Women's Health and Wellbeing Aboriginal Corporation Waminda, urged people to vote Yes.
"This is a good thing for the Aboriginal community - recognising us as the First People of this land and making sure that we always have a seat at the table when Parliament and governments are making decisions that affect us," she said.
"Our connection to the land is unbroken over thousands of years - we have always been here and we're still here.
"We want this recognition and Voice for our children and our grandchildren," Ms Briggs said.
"We don't want them to have to fight as hard as we have in order to be heard.
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"It's frustrating when we work at the grassroots and we can see often simple solutions to some of the problems that make life so hard for our people - but there is no pathway for us to talk about those ideas with government," Ms Briggs said.
"A Voice would give us that pathway."
Meanwhile a key campaigner for the No vote, John Hughes, said there had been strong support on the day and in the weeks leading up.
He described the Voice as divisive and unnecessary, given the number of Aboriginal organisations already operating in Australia including the Coalition of Peaks, representing 80 peak indigenous organisations and 800 communities throughout Australia.
The day started with food being offered at many of the voting places, including North Nowra Public School where egg and bacon rolls were served up from 8am, attracting more than just hungry voters.
