The Australian Electoral Commission's live tally just before 10.30pm AEDT shows roughly 60 per cent of the country has voted no in the Voice to Parliament referendum.
The Voice Referendum live results: Australia votes No
PM Anthony Albanese Australia has said we need to find a new way forward with reconciliation, as Indigenous Yes campaigners and supporters announced they were in mourning after Australians overwhelmingly voted No to the Voice.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said from tomorrow, we “must seek a new way forward” after Australia voted No in the Voice referendum.
“At the outset, I want to say that while tonight’s result is not one that I had hoped for, I absolutely respect the decision of the Australian people and the democratic process that has delivered it,” he said.
Speaking at Parliament House with Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney, Mr Albanese said he accepted the decision of the Australian people.
“My fellow Australians at the outset I want to say that while tonight's result is not one that I have hoped for, I absolutely respect the decision of the Australian people and the democratic process that has delivered it,” he said.
“I say to the millions of Australians all over our great country who voted Yes with hope and good will, the people who volunteered with such energy and enthusiasm … that just as the Uluru Statement from the Heart was an invitation extended with humility, grace and optimism for the future, tonight we must meet this result with the same … and tomorrow we must see a new way forward with the same optimism.”
“As Prime Minister I will always accept responsibility for the decisions I've taken and I do so tonight.”
"Tonight, I want to recognise that for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, this campaign has been a heavy weight to carry and this result will be very hard to bear."
Indigenous Australians who supported the Voice will hold a week of silence to grieve the referendum outcome and "reflect on its meaning and significance".
Australians overwhelmingly rejected the referendum to enshrine an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice in the constitution on Saturday, with the No case leading 54.96 per cent to 45.04 per cent with about half of the booths counted at 7.30pm AEDT.
Tasmania, NSW, Victoria and South Australia were all called for No by Sky News Australia before counting had even begun in Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. The ACT was the only jurisdiction firmly voting Yes.
Sky News Chief Election Analyst Tom Connell said results in inner city electorates were not strong enough to make up for huge No votes in the regions.
Yes23 board member Tanya Hosch said she was “devastated” by the result, but the campaign had always known a “prerequisite for success” would have been bipartisan support.
She said there was a “decade of very careful work” seeking to find a wording that would appease conservative politicians to no avail.
Prominent Yes campaigner Thomas Mayo directly accused Opposition leader Peter Dutton of being “dishonest” to the Australian people during the referendum.
“I really hope that when the analysis is done … that is exposed for all Australians to see,” he said.
No campaign spokesman Warren Mundine claimed he had been confident the No case could win “from day one” and said he had no regrets about how the campaign was handled.
He dismissed suggestions misinformation and lies had spread via the No side, declaring the "main campaign" was not responsible.
"I was pretty proud of the team and of our volunteers... there were some people on the edge of this that was a problem," he said.
“The reality is that we went and spoke to the migrant community and we knew what they were not happy about,” he told Sky News presenter Paul Murray.
“Some of them come from countries where they were second class citizens and they weren’t going to buy into this [Voice].”
“From our polling we knew that one of the biggest issues was that we wanted details.”
“There were a lot of people out there that wanted to vote yes but couldn’t because they didn’t have the details.”
Earlier in the evening, Yes23 campaign director Dean Parkin said the movement to meaningfully recognising First Nations people “will be back” regardless of the final result, noting the Yes side had turned out more than 80,000 volunteers on referendum day – the largest political movement in Australia’s history.
See the results as they come in for each state below:
See how the nation has voted :
See how it unfolded below:
Updates
AEC TALLY SHOWS 60% NO
PRICE: IT'S TIME FOR A NEW ERA IN INDIGENOUS POLICY
Country Liberal Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price said it was “time for a new era in Indigenous policy and the Indigenous narrative”.
“We need to step away from grievance. Attempting to bring about change through grievance is evidently got us nowhere,” she said.
“It is time to accept that we are all part of the fabric of this nation, that Indigenous Australians are also Australian citizens.”
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the result did not divide Australians.
He thanked Jacinta Price and Warren Mundine and said: “No-one is owed more gratitude than each of these individuals”.
“All of us know people who have voted yes and people who voted no, but to those of you who voted yes, let me say these few words,” he said.
“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.”
– Jessica Wang, NewsWire
DUTTON CALLED 'RACIST'
Campaigners at Yes HQ have yelled expletives and boos toward Opposition leader Peter Dutton as he addressed the nation following the no result.
A dwindling crowd in Sydney chanted the word ‘shame’ repeatedly as Mr Dutton’s speech was played at the event – with some calling him a “m*********er” and a “racist”.
The speech was turned off less than a minute into the broadcast – with one man yelling at staff to “shut him off now”.
– Madeline Crittenden, Daily Telegraph
PARKIN: 'SINGLE LARGEST MISINFORMATION CAMPAIGN'
Yes23 campaign director Dean Parkin lamented that the Yes team had been unable to reach well-meaning Australians who had doubts about the Voice proposal.
He accused the No case of fuelling voters’ concerns with “what has been the single largest misinformation campaign this country has ever seen”.
“We did all we could to alleviate those doubts, we did all we could to ensure that the proposal was strong,” he said.
Claims Indigenous people would take back land, raise taxes, veto government decisions and control money ran rampant on social media, despite the Yes case consistently refuting them.
Mr Parkin had a specific message for the parliamentarians who he believed had “very incorrectly and dishonestly” waged a campaign that Voice would result in division in Australia.
“The original proposal and the intention from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples was to unite,” he said.
“Those you joined the No campaign on the basis that you were opposing division in this country … you now have a solemn responsibility to end the division.
“You have a responsibility to join our shared mission of unit, of healing, or reconciliation.
“It’s not enough to say that you were against division, you have a solemn responsibility to back up those words in the next few days as we process the result, and in particular, when the parliament sits next week in Canberra, it is time to put the cudgels down.”
– Clare Armstrong, National Political Editor
THE COMMUNITY THAT VOTED ALMOST 75 PER CENT YES
While the rest of Australia voted no, Palm Island, Queensland’s largest discrete Indigenous community, has voted 74.7 per cent yes in the Voice referendum.
Just under half of its enrolled voters – 432 – cast a vote on Saturday. Hundreds of island residents were in Townsville on Saturday at a rugby league carnival.
The referendum is not a major talking point in the island’s lone pub on Saturday night.
The dozen-or-so patrons are playing pool and singing karaoke, with the lyrics up on the big screen rather than referendum coverage.
One of the first songs sung was a local man’s rendition of John Lennon’s 'Imagine'; with an ad-libbed “Imagine all the blackfellas” thrown in.
Palm Island polling booth results:
Yes: 323
No: 107
Informal: 2
– Blair Jackson, Townsville Bulletin
'IT'S NOT THE RESULT WE WANTED': NSW PREMIER
NSW Premier Chris Minns, who committed to starting treaty discussions at the last election, said he accepts the decision of Australians.
"It's not the result we wanted, but the people of Australia have spoken," Mr Minns said.
"I am fully committed to ensuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's voices are heard in NSW.
"That means listening and delivering better outcomes. Not just words – action. That's what we'll deliver."
NSW overwhelmingly voted No to the referendum – at 9.30pm the count was at 58 per cent.
– Jessica McSweeney, Daily Telegraph
NATIONAL WEEK OF SILENCE DECLARED AS VOTERS GRIEVE
Indigenous Australians who supported the Voice will hold a week of silence to grieve the referendum outcome and "reflect on its meaning and significance".
In an open statement released after the defeat of the national vote, Indigenous Yes campaigners and supporters announced Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags will be lowering their community's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags to half masts for the week, and asked others to do the same.
"Recognition in the constitution of the descendants of the original and continuing owners of Australia would have been a great advance for Australians," the statement said.
"Alas, the majority have rejected it."
The Indigenous group said for more than six years they had explained to Australians why the Voice was "our great hope to achieve real change for our families and communities".
"Now is not the time to dissect the reasons for this tragic outcome," they said.
"This will be done in the weeks, years and decades to come.
"Now is the time for silence, to mourn and deeply consider the consequence of this outcome."
In the statement leaders told Indigenous Australians "do not shed tears" as the rejection was "never for others to issue".
"We will not rest long," they said.
"Pack up the Uluru Statement from the Heart. Fly our flags low. Talk not of recognition and reconciliation. Only of justice and the rights of our people in our own country."
"Re-gather our strength and resolve, and when we determine a new direction for justice and our rights, let us once again unite.
"Let us convene in due course to carefully consider our path forward."
– Clare Armstrong, National Political Editor
'I FEEL VERY SAD FOR PEOPLE HURTING TONIGHT': SENATOR WONG
Foreign Minister Penny Wong offered words of comfort to the many who gathered at a Yes event in the Adelaide CBD on Saturday night.
She hugged supporters as they cried, but told them not to give up hope for future change.
“Obviously I feel very sad for those who people are hurting tonight,” Senator Wong told The Advertiser.
“But I would say to them that I don't think anyone in this campaign was arguing against closing the gap or against listening.
“They did vote against this constitutional change and we know why. Constitutional change is hard. Without bipartisan support, it was always going to be tough."
She said she knew it would be a challenge to get South Australia over the line, but said she was happy her beloved electorate of Boothby as support for the Yes vote grew throughout the night.
“We knew it was going to be challenging with with the lack of bipartisan support, but a lot of people in South Australia worked very hard on this campaign.
“That support has been heartwarming, and I think what we do know is there's been a much greater focus on the situation and the challenges faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.
She said it was too soon to speculate when Australia might hold another referendum, but that’s the Prime Minister was committed to “bringing people together.”
“People are hurting and we have to heal, we have to come together as a country and I know that Anthony Albanese will be very committed to doing that, and ensuring we bring people together.
“A lot of people here are very upset. They extended an invitation. And what I've said to them is please remember the many people who did work with you and voted for this and please remember that I think it is a very broad support across our community to make sure we do close the gap together.”
– Izzy McMillan, The Advertiser
ALBO: 'SOMETIMES WHEN YOU AIM HIGH, YOU FALL SHORT'
Anthony Albanese has called on Australians to unite in finding the solutions to address Indigenous disadvantage after the resounding defeat of the historic Voice referendum.
The Prime Minister said to the millions of Australians who accepted the Uluru Statement from the Heart and backed the referendum with “hope and good will,” they must take now the result with the “same grace and humility”.
“Tomorrow we must seek a new way forward with the same optimism,” he said.
Mr Albanese said the government had “given their all” to the Voice, but “when you aim high, sometimes you fall short”.
“As Prime Minister I will always take responsibility for the decisions I have taken and I will do so tonight,” he said.
Mr Albanese said Australians must now take the country beyond the debate, without forgetting “why we had it in the first place”.
“Too often in the life of our nation, and in the political conversation, the disadvantage confronting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people has been relegated to the margins,” he said.
“There is a new national awareness of … (Indigenous disadvantage) let us channel that into a new sense of national purpose to find the answers.”
– Clare Armstrong, National Political Editor
Fighting back tears, Mr Albanese said he was inspired by his minister Linda Burney.
"I have never been as proud to be Australian as when I sat in the red dirt at Uluru … I have made lifetime friends and for that I am grateful," he said.
"Constitutional change may not have happened tonight, but change has happened in our great nation. Respect and recognition is given at events, the fullness of our history has begun to be told – maintain your hope and know that you are loved."
An emotional Linda Burney paid tribute to the "inspirational" volunteers, and thanked
"I will never forget that day in September when some 200,000 Australian walked together for Yes right across this country," she said.
"I know this outcome will be hard for some, but achieving progress is never easy and progress doesn't always move in a straight line – there are breakthroughs and heartbreaks."
"To all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people I want to say this. I know the last few months have been tough, but be proud of who you are, be proud of your identity, be proud of the 65,000 years of culture you are part of."
Speaking through tears, Ms Burney said this is not the end of reconciliation.
– Jessica McSweeney, Sunday Telegraph
WA POLLS HAVE CLOSED
Counting has started in WA after the polls in the west have closed – the final in the country.
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