Australians have rejected the Voice. What happens now?

Key Points

Australians have comprehensively rejected the Indigenous Voice to Parliament after a bruising six-week campaign.In Australia’s first referendum in a generation on Saturday,.

As of 11pm on Saturday, the No vote stood just under 60 per cent of the overall vote.

Marcia Langton says Reconciliation is ‘dead’ and other Indigenous leaders have declared a ‘week of silence’. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch

The result throws up a number of questions about the future of Reconciliation in Australia, which one prominent Indigenous leader declared “dead” on Saturday evening.But after Coalition leader , purely on Indigenous recognition, how likely is another? And where to next for the Indigenous leaders who backed the Voice?

Here’s what you need to know.

What next for pro-Voice leaders?

A group of unnamed Indigenous leaders, who are linked to the Yes23 campaign, have declared a “week of silence” to mourn the result.In a statement within hours of the No vote being confirmed, the group said: “We now know where we stand in this, our own, country”.They called for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags to be lowered to half-mast.

“Now is the time for silence, to mourn and deeply consider the consequences of this outcome. Much will be asked about the role of racism and prejudice against Indigenous people in this result. The only thing we ask is that each and every Australian who voted in this election reflect hard on this question,” they said.

Reacting to the result on Saturday, .”It’s very clear that Reconciliation is dead. A majority of Australians have said no to an invitation from Indigenous Australia, with a minimal proposition, to give us a bare say in matters that affect our lives, advice that doesn’t need to be taken by the parliament,” she told NITV.Fellow Aboriginal leader and Voice working group member Noel Pearson said he would withdraw from public life. Pearson, who has spent decades advocating for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, said it will be up to a new generation of Indigenous leaders to pick up the mantle. “A whole generation of Indigenous leadership will have failed … I don’t think we have anything left after that. It’ll be up to a new generation to chart a new course because we will have been rejected,” he told the ABC’s 730 in February.

Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney said she was confident that “because of this campaign and the millions of conversations it has sparked, the renewed generation of Indigenous leaders will emerge”.

Noel Pearson has said he will withdraw from public life if Australia voted No. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas

Will there be another referendum if the Coalition wins the next election?

In September, Opposition leader Peter Dutton said he would hold another referendum if the Voice fails, and the Coalition wins the next federal election.

That referendum – which Dutton said would be held in the Coalition’s first term – would be purely on a question of recognising Indigenous people in the constitution in a symbolic way, something Australians rejected in 1999.

Peter Dutton and Jacinta Price have been at odds over a second referendum. Source: AAP / Jono Searle

But that idea immediately hit the skids, with the Liberals’ junior Coalition partner – the Nationals – questioning the commitment.Coalition Indigenous Australians spokeswoman Jacinta Nampijinpa Price – a Nationals member – poured cold water on the prospect soon after, warning that stance had not been agreed on by the Liberals’ junior partner.

Price would also not say whether Dutton consulted her before publicly making the commitment.

And Nationals leader David Littleproud stopped short of backing Dutton’s proposal, only saying he was open to “proper” consultation on the idea. A number of Voice proponents, including Liberal MP Bridget Archer, dismissed the plan as tokenistic and argued it would not make tangible impacts for Indigenous people.

Speaking on Saturday night, Dutton said the Coalition would pursue “practical solutions” to Close the Gap, including a royal commission into child sexual abuse in Indigenous communities and an audit of spending on Indigenous programs “so we can get money to where it’s needed”.

Will there be a legislated Voice?

One option proposed by opponents of the Voice is establishing a Voice through parliamentary legislation, rather than via the constitution.That idea was backed by a number of crossbenchers.But Albanese has repeatedly rejected that suggestion, saying Labor will respect whatever verdict Australians hand down on Saturday.

“If Australians vote No, I don’t believe that it would be appropriate to then go and say, ‘Oh, well, you’ve had your say, but we’re going to legislate anyway’,” he told the ABC this week.

But Albanese insisted his commitment to improving the lives of Indigenous people would remain unwavering.”I want to make it clear: I believed it was the right thing to do and I will always stand up for my beliefs,” he said.

“[Our] agenda will be guided by the principles that I put forward consistently: engagement, consultation, listening, progress to Close the Gap.”

What about the states?

In March, . But it paused the establishment of the body for six months in June, with the state government arguing it was “causing confusion” with the national vote.Premier Peter Malinauskas has insisted that regardless of the result on Saturday, SA would hold elections for delegates to sit on its own Voice.

“The South Australian Voice will get on with the task next year, and at that time people will see the value of having [it],” he told the Weekend Australian.

Victoria has had a First Nations Assembly since 2019. Source: AAP / Joel Carrett

But with nearly 65 per cent of South Australians rejecting the national Voice on Saturday, his task may have become more politically complex.Treaty processes are also underway in some states.Treaties were another element of the 2017 Uluru Statement From the Heart, which also called for Voice and truth-telling about Australia’s history.Earlier this year, Queensland passed laws to establish the First Nations Treaty Institute, a body to prepare First Nations for an upcoming Treaty process.Victoria has had a First Peoples Assembly since 2019, with 21 Indigenous members representing five of the state’s regions. Its main aim is to establish the rules through which the state government will negotiate treaties with First Nations people.

Western Australia is the only state not to have committed to a Treaty process in some form.