Analysis-Australia's top companies back Indigenous Voice as public support wavers

FILE PHOTO: A depiction of the Australian Aboriginal Flag is seen on a window sill at the home of indigenous Muruwari elder Rita Wright, a member of the "Stolen Generations", in Sydney, Australia, January 19, 2021. Picture taken January 19, 2021. REUTERS/Loren Elliott/File Photo

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Some of Australia's biggest companies, including miners, banks and retailers, are emerging as powerful sources of support for a campaign to recognise the country's Indigenous people in the constitution, a development that could sway the outcome of a referendum later this year.

The advocacy of BHP, Rio Tinto, Woodside Energy, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and others helps Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, whose center-left Labor government backs the change, and puts the opposition conservatives, who are urging a "No" vote, at odds with sections of their traditional base.