He was not the only one in the room as the wording of the constitutional amendment and proposed wording of the Voice referendum question were revealed.

"To not put this to the vote ... sorry ... to not put this to a vote is to concede defeat," he tried hard to get out.

"You only win when you run on the field and engage."

The starter's gun on the Voice to Parliament has finally been fired.

An action which is clearly a heavy emotional release for those involved. Lindy Burney, Marcia Langton, Marion Scrymgour, Pat Dodson, all the members of the referendum working group. Red-rimmed eyes. Silence as the case was put.

"We will feel better about ourselves, if we get this done. We'll just feel better," he said, while adding Australia will be seen as a better nation.

For Mr Albanese, urging a good look at the dispiriting Closing the Gap statistics, it is about the heart and it is also about the head.

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So much has not worked. So much money, ideas and goodwill have been spent, but he said the things that have worked have a sense of Indigenous ownership.

The Prime Minister declared he is here to change the country, not occupy the space. He and the working group members walked out to applause from the Labor caucus.

Presented with the confirmed words, Peter Dutton was not emotional and unmoved. He said he has seen the tears of Indigenous women, too. In Alice Springs. In Darwin.

The Liberal leader still wants more detail. In fact, he said people with Indigenous heritage want detail. He still has reservations. The party will make a decision later.

Being constructive on the machinery bill is not a sign of support, as "you can only be strung along for so far without the detail."

The Nationals already made their decision to oppose the Voice weeks ago.

The political lines remain.

"I want to know that the Voice is going to provide a better outcome for those young people. And if it's not, is there a better way?" Mr Dutton posed.

Working group member and prominent Indigenous academic Marcia Langton has been for decades at the forefront. She pointed to the many advisory groups, consultative groups and councils in the past, saying there was no evidence to suggest they didn't work. They just were not listened to.

In a world full of misinformation and political games, she urged people to look for evidence and listen to the people who have got in there to try to make Indigenous lives better.

"We have doggedly recommended changes to stop the deaths, the incarceration, the early deaths, and the miserable lives and it is so infrequently that our recommendations are adopted," the professor said, calling the Closing the Gap updates an annual "misery fest."

"We are here to draw a line in the sand and say this has to change."

So the starter's gun is fired after a long time in the making. There will be quite a few twists and turns yet in this referendum race.