Australian referendum to create an Indigenous Voice to Parliament has failed
- Australians voted ‘No’ to altering the 122-year-old constitution to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people
- ‘We very much respect this result’, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said
Australians rejected giving Indigenous people constitutional recognition and greater rights in a landmark referendum on Saturday, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said.
“Australians have not voted for a change to the constitution”, Marles said, as partial results pointed to a resounding defeat for the reform. “We very much respect this result”.
Australian Broadcasting Corp said that the states of New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania and South Australiarejected the amendment that would have created an Indigenous committee to advise Parliament and the government on issues that affect Australia’s most disadvantaged ethnic minority.
The Voice needed majorities in each of at least four of the six states as well as a national majority for the referendum to pass.
The result will be a setback to reconciliation efforts with Indigenous Australians and a political blow to the centre-left Labour government that is been in office less than 18 months. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had hoped the ballot would bring Australians together in a moment of unity, instead it has exposed division and raised allegations of racism.
Albanese had initiated the referendum to give greater representation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders under a proposal put forward by Indigenous elders in 2017.
