No vote wins in Australian referendum but not in Aboriginal communities

The proposal to create an Aboriginal body to advise parliament on indigenous matters was rejected in all six states of Australia by an average of 60 to 40 per cent. Indigenous communities in the most remote areas voted largely in favour. “I do feel a bit deflated,” lamented a young Indigenous woman, but “we will rise”.

Canberra (AsiaNews) – Australia has overwhelmingly rejected the government’s plan to give a greater voice to Aboriginal Australians in Saturday’s referendum.

After a very tense and disputed campaign, a majority of voters in all six states of the country chose No by an average margin of 60 to 40 per cent.

The proposal would have seen the constitution amended to recognise indigenous people. More importantly, it would have provided for the creation of an advisory body that called “The Voice”.

First put forward in 2017 with the Uluru Statement from the Heart, a petition signed by indigenous leaders, the reform would have set out a roadmap for reconciliation with the Australian government.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, who represent 3.8 per cent of a population of 26 million, have inhabited Australia for at least 65,000 years but, in addition to not being included in the constitution, are the most disadvantaged group in Australian society.

The city of Alice Springs, which sits on the edge of Australia’s outback in the Northern Territory, was at the centre of a media frenzy earlier this year due to rising crime, violence and alcohol abuse among indigenous peoples, a consequence, according to several local politicians and activists, of decades of “chronic and systemic neglect” of remote communities.

According to the Yes campaign, the proposal would have made it possible to reduce systemic inequalities in the country.

Led by opposition leader Peter Dutton, the No campaign brought together several Aboriginal figures, including, for example, Warren Mundine, a businessman and former politician, representative of the Bundjalung people.

“This is a referendum that we should have never had had because it was built on the lie that Aboriginal people do not have a voice.,” Mundine told the media.

Aboriginal activist and Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price also came out in favour of a No vote, while her community in the Northern Territory voted Yes.

Aboriginal Senator Lidia Thorpe also opposed The Voice, calling for priority to be given to legally binding agreements between Aboriginal peoples and the Australian government:

“This is not our constitution, it was developed in 1901 by a bunch of old white fellas, and now we’re asking people to put us in there – no thanks,” Ms Thorpe said.

Several commentators pointed out that it would have been unrealistic to expect complete agreement among the various indigenous groups.

Yet, according to ABC News, polls show that people living in the remotest and most disadvantaged parts of Australia with the worst health and education outcomes were the most in favour of the proposal, seeking to have parliament heed their needs.

In Aboriginal majority communities living in Kakadu National Park, the Yes vote recorded 73 per cent support, while in cities, the No prevailed.

For political analyst Simon Jackman, in electoral districts where Indigenous people are more than 50 per cent of the population, the Yes vote averaged 63 per cent.

On Palm Island, Queensland, where the population is 93 per cent Indigenous, three in four voted in favour of The Voice.

Results also show that the number of young indigenous voters who voted in the referendum was higher than those who participated in the last year’s elections.

“I think of all the leaders who have fought tirelessly for Aboriginal rights, and especially for this Voice,” said Armani Francois, 18, an ethnic Arrernte, speaking to ABC News.

“I do feel a bit deflated,” she lamented, but “I think we will rise and I think that change will come.”

Prime Minister Albanese said he respected the vote and “the democratic process that has delivered it”, while Dean Parkin, the director of the Yes23 campaign group, addressed those opposed to the changes.

“I want to speak very directly to those Australians who voted no with hardness in your hearts, please understand that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have never wanted to take anything from you,” he said.

“All we have wanted is to join with you, our Indigenous story, our Indigenous culture, not to take away or diminish what it is that you have, but to add to it, to strengthen it, to enrich it.”