The movement took 30 years to coalesce and achieve anything like its stated goal, but it soon made its focus the Constitution of Australia which, in its original form, prevented the Commonwealth from making any law that would benefit the Aboriginal people. In 1949, a letter written by Nicholls prompted the Labor MP, Kim Beazley Sr. to write to Prime Minister Ben Chifley asking him to explore how the Constitution could be amended. In 1957, Jessie Street approached Nicholls about bringing in the Victorian Aboriginal Advancement League to form a federal council to campaign for Aboriginal affairs to become a federal matter — this would become the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. Its early work involved drafting and collecting petitions, from suburbs and town centres from across the country. By 1962 they had achieved 100,000 signatures with the stated goal of 250,000 signatures. The movement supporting a change to the constitution, which removed the block on the Federal Government making a laws regarding Aboriginal people, soon became known as the "yes" campaign.