‘Day of sadness’: how prominent Australians reacted to the voice referendum result

Prominent Australians and campaigners from each side have responded after voters rejected the Indigenous voice to parliament proposal.

The result was clear soon after polls closed in eastern states and on Saturday evening the nation began processing what the defeat meant and discussing a path forward for reconciliation.

Marcia Langton

Indigenous leader, academic and voice proponent

“It will be at least two generations before Australians are capable of putting their colonial hatreds behind them and acknowledging that we exist.

“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.”

Anthony Albanese

Prime minister and yes advocate

“When you aim high, sometimes you fall short. And tonight, we acknowledge, understand and respect that we have.

“Because this moment of disagreement does not define us. And it will not divide us. We are not yes voters or no voters. We are all Australians. And it is as Australians together, that we must take our country beyond this debate without forgetting why we had it in the first place.”

Peter Dutton

Opposition leader and no advocate

“To those of you who voted yes, let me say these few words: as the leader of the Coalition, who has supported the no campaign, while I disagree with your position, I respect your decision to have voted yes.

“And while yes and no voters may hold differences of opinion, these opinions of difference do not diminish a love for our country or our regard for each other. This is the referendum that Australia did not need to have. The proposal and the process should have been designed to unite Australians, not to divide us.”

Linda Burney

Minister for Indigenous Australians and yes advocate

“For many, today is a day of sadness. This result is not what we hoped for. The Australian people have had their say, and a clear majority have voted against the proposed change to the constitution.

“We need to keep listening to Indigenous Australians about what works and what can make practical differences for the next generation, because we all want what’s best for our children. We all want our children and grandchildren to have a better future.”

Peter Dutton and Jacinta Price speak to reporters on Saturday night after the result. Photograph: Jono Searle/AAPJacinta Price

Liberal senator and no advocate

“Going forward, we need to prioritise where our most marginalised are. As I’ve always said, the gap doesn’t exist between Indigenous Australia and non-Indigenous Australia. It exists between our most marginalised … whose first language isn’t English, who live in remote communities – and the rest of Australia, including the middle class Aboriginal Australia that are doing really well.

“We need to focus our efforts to where our marginalised exist, and we need to listen to their voices.”

Tanya Hosch

Torres Strait Islander woman and director of Australians for Indigenous Constitutional Recognition

“We actually have to stand strong, and it might take some time to find that strength and the sets of words that we need to bring.

“But one thing that is not changed by tonight is that we’re the First Peoples of this country [and] that our enjoyment of justice and human rights in Australia, the levels of disadvantage, are not acceptable. So now we’re left with the status quo and we’re left with a huge disappointment. But one of the things we will know is that perhaps six to eight million Australians are with us on this journey now.”

Warren Mundine

Indigenous former politician and no campaign leader

“We made it quite clear from the beginning, it’s not a celebration. Sure people are happy because they worked really hard on the campaign and they were out there copping abuse and everything like that. But for us, it’s about tomorrow.

“We’re focusing on tomorrow. We’ve got to reach out to the yes campaign, we’ve got to reach out to those Australians who didn’t vote for us … and come together because we’ve got to fix these issues once and for all.”

Leading Yes campaigner Thomas Mayo on referendum day. Photograph: Mark Evans/Getty ImagesThomas Mayo

Leading yes campaigner

“I am not angry at the Australian public. I think that the Australian public were ready for this. I disagree when people say that they weren’t. I disagree that this was a bad idea. Because I know that we needed that foundational change to be recognised and to have a guaranteed representative body – not politicians that purport to speak for us.”

Lidia Thorpe

Independent senator and no campaigner

“I’m not surprised, given the country has not been taken on a journey and the referendum ultimately was a bad idea in the first place.”

Dean Parkin

Yes campaign director

“Understand that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have never wanted to take anything from you … All we wanted to do was 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.”

Nova Peris with Anthony Albanese during the yes campaign. Photograph: Richard Wainwright/AAPNova Peris

Indigenous former senator and Olympian

“It’s gut wrenching, it makes me sick, it’s a really sad indictment.

“Australia has pulled the shutters down and said we choose not to see you, we choose not to hear you, we won’t give you a voice you’ve been asking for.”

Andrew Bragg

Liberal senator, yes campaigner

“Reconciliation of our nation must continue. We should work harder to listen to one another, find common ground and make compromises if we are to achieve the necessary changes. The immediate task in the weeks and the months ahead will be to listen to Indigenous people. For now, the nation is hurt and we have much to reflect upon.”

Tony Abbott

Former prime minister, opposed to the voice

“This is the referendum that Australia should never had to have. It was always a terrible mistake on a subject as sensitive as this, for the prime minister to put something to the people that was always likely to fail. And what’s happened tonight is that the Australian people have voted for equality and against separatism. And that’s the right thing that the people have done.

“What we need to do now is focus on bringing Aboriginal people or giving Aboriginal people far more ability to enter the Australian mainstream. We’ve got to get the kids to school, get the adults to work. We’ve got to keep the community safe, particularly in remote Australia, because that’s where the dreadful disadvantage that all us want to end predominates.”

Julian Leeser

Liberal MP who resigned from frontbench when Coalition declared opposition to voice

“Naturally, I am disappointed and my thoughts are with every Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australian who is feeling a sense of sadness tonight. Though the yes case is lost tonight, I know that the cause of reconciliation will ultimately succeed.

“To every Indigenous Australian I say: this was a vote about the constitution, it was not a vote about you. It is an undeniable fact that you are our land’s first peoples and I honour you this night. I pledge everything in my being to keep walking the path of reconciliation with you.”

Chris Kenny

Conservative commentator and yes advocate

“Division is what Australians hate more than anything else. We see that in party politics. We see that on all these issues. And the no case, all their T-shirts say vote no to division, and their whole campaign has been about division, I think deceptively and dishonestly so. But it’s been very effective because people don’t like the division.”