Australians have overwhelmingly voted against a proposal to create a new Aboriginal advisory body to the country’s parliament, known as “the Voice,” after critics claimed it was divisive and would do little to improve the lot of indigenous people.
Results published by Australian broadcaster ABC indicate that over 60% of Australians voted against the creation of the Voice with only the Australian Capital Territory, the home of Australia’s capital Canberra, voting for the proposal.
The country’s two most populous states, Victoria and Queensland overwhelmingly rejected the Voice, with the latter seeing nearly 70% of voters against the idea.
Queensland Senator Pauline Hanson, leader of the populist party One Nation, was one of those opposed to the creation of the Voice and expressed her approval of the results on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Many Queenslanders understood the voice was only the beginning, that it was the first step towards a treaty and the reparations that would inevitably be imposed on taxpayers,” Senator Hanson said.
“I have been advocating for genuine equality in Australia my entire career, pointing out disparities in taxpayer support and the special privileges afforded indigenous Australians, and I’m drawing a line here—One Nation will never support a treaty. Treaties are made between nations, not states and their own citizens,” she added.
The referendum was backed by the Labor party and its leader Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who stated previously that he would hold the referendum despite polls showing it was unlikely to pass.
“I had a duty, as a conviction politician, to put that to the Australian people,” he said. He also criticised Australia’s major opposition parties, most of which campaigned against the Voice.
Addressing Australians following the results, Albanese stated:
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.
Too often in the life of our nation, the disadvantage confronting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people has been relegated to the margins, this referendum and my government has put it right at the centre.
While some, including Senator Pauline Hanson, have called for Prime Minister Albanese to resign after losing the referendum, he has made no indication that he will step down, unlike former UK Prime Minister David Cameron who resigned immediately after losing the Brexit referendum in 2016.
The proposal to create the Voice came initially in 2017 as part of a document called the Uluru Statement from the Heart, which was proposed by leaders from Australia’s indigenous communities and was aimed at fostering reconciliation.
Despite comprising only 3.8% of Australia’s total population, Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders face significant economic disparities compared to the broader population. They are disproportionately affected by poverty, with a suicide rate twice as high as other communities and an average lifespan eight years shorter than the rest of the country.
The Voice itself would have been an advisory body to the Australian parliament with no formal law making ability but would rather act as an indigenous advocacy group within the Australian constitution.
The referendum is a blow for the Left, but very few Australian referendums to change the country’s constitution have ever passed. Just eight of 45 referenda have passed during the 122 years of Australia’s history.
In 1999, one of the most radical constitutional referenda took place in which voters were asked whether or not they wished to reject the monarchy and create an Australian republic. Voters rejected the notion of republicanism but the issue has remained part of the country’s political debate.
The rejection of the Voice has also been seen as a win for King Charles III as some have noted that it is highly unlikely Prime Minister Albanese will propose a new referendum on creating a republic.
Commentator Paul Kelly reflected on the prospects of a republic referendum saying, “Albanese won’t be caught with two defeats, particularly when he sees the voice as the far better prospect. So the voice referendum has a dual significance—as a constitutional change in its own right but as the necessary gateway to the republic.”
Australia is not the only commonwealth country in the region to see a shift to the right this weekend as results from New Zealand’s national election show a victory for the centre-right National Party, which could govern in a coalition with the classical liberal ACT.
The result is a disaster for the Labour Party, formerly led by divisive Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who made a surprise resignation in January of this year.
Ardern became known internationally for her extreme statements and policies during the COVID-19 pandemic, including a “zero COVID” policy, which saw the country repeatedly locked down, and was a proponent of vaccine passports.
