Indigenous local government areas in FNQ voted in favour of the Voice to Parliament

Referendum data has revealed some startling home truths, and a desire for change in remote Indigenous communities, despite the majority of Leichhardt and Kennedy voters rejecting a Voice to parliament.

Indigenous communities in Far North Queensland voted overwhelmingly in favour of the Voice proposal, despite the majority of Leichhardt and Kennedy voters rejecting it.

Of the 16 Indigenous councils in Queensland, 13 are located in the Far North – ten of them voted for the Voice, data for the other three – Aurukun, Mapoon and Napranum – had not yet been uploaded.

Support was highest in Mornington Island (76.7 per cent), Hope Vale and Yarrabah (both 75.4 per cent).

Despite this, 65.3 per cent of voters in Leichhardt and 80.66 per cent in Kennedy, the two electorates within the FNQ region, voted no.

Former Yarrabah mayor Percy Neal said he was disappointed but not surprised by the referendum outcome. Picture: Brian Cassey

As of 3pm Sunday, the Voice had been comprehensively rejected; 60.51 per cent of the nation, and 68.76 per cent of Queensland, voted no.

Former Yarrabah mayor Percy Neal said he was disappointed by not surprised by the result.

“I’m not surprised one iota,” Mr Neal said.

“It was time for change. We wanted change – anything but the status quo. Unfortunately this is how it is and we have to live with that.

“In Australia, it is still ‘us versus them’ between the white and black man.”

Mr Neal said change must still occur to correct disadvantage experienced by Indigenous communities, but the changes required did not need to be complex.

He said change should begin by empowering local communities.

Badu Island resident Edmund Tamwoy said people in his community had been left confused by the referendum. Picture: Isaac McCarthy

“Housing is a big issue in Yarrabah. We used to get direct funding from the federal government. If they gave us money for ten houses, we would build ten houses,” he said.

“Now, the funding for housing goes straight to state government bureaucracy. This chops some of the money away, and we go down to four or five houses.”

Edmund Tamwoy in Badu Island said his community remained confused by the whole process.

“There’re mixed emotions here. There was no real consultation,” Mr Tamwoy said.

“People didn’t really know what they were voting for. I didn’t really know. There was no real understanding. The leaders probably understood.”

Far North no campaign leader Peter Fitzgibbon said he was elated by the result but did not harbour feelings of triumph.

Cairns no campaign leader Peter Fitzgibbon, pictured with Melissa Harwood and Frankie Hogan, said the nation had “dodged a bullet”. Picture: Peter Carruthers

“The challenge now is bringing Australia back together. Reconciliation has been damaged by this. There’s been bad blood created,” Mr Fitzgibbon said.

“We worked hard to achieve this outcome, to keep racism out of the constitution.

“I think we’ve dodged a bullet.”

Mr Fitzgibbon said disadvantage in remote Indigenous communities needed to now be addressed in a practical way.

He disagreed that all Indigenous people were experiencing disadvantage and said future interventions should be based on need.

He said access to education was the key.

“There are 200,000 Aboriginal people who are genuinely disadvantaged. They’re the ones who we should be focusing on,” he said.

Originally published as Indigenous local government areas in FNQ voted in favour of the Voice to Parliament