At about 7pm on the night of the Voice referendum a year ago, a senior Liberal staffer remarked to a colleague, ‘Well, the republic had just died too.’ The projects of elites have a habit of failing when put to a democratic vote.

In 1999, the republic (or at least the cobbled-together model of a republic offered to the public) was rejected with a 55 per cent No vote. In 2023, the Voice was rejected with a 60 per cent No vote.