Voice referendum results live updates

Australia has voted No. Less than 90 minutes after polls closed, the Voice to Parliament referendum has been called as a massive defeat for Yes.

Australians have cast their vote in the Voice to Parliament referendum.

The proposal, to formally recognise Indigenous Australians in the constitution and to create an advisory body called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to make representations to the federal government, has been resoundingly defeated.

For the referendum to succeed, a double majority was needed, meaning both the majority of Australians and the majority of states vote Yes. There are six states in Australia so four states were needed for the vote to pass.

This live blog has now ended.

11pm — That’s a wrap

We’re going to wrap things up for tonight. Thanks to everyone for reading.

10.10pm — Yes fails in every state

Yes has failed to get a majority in any state.

Even in Victoria, the strongest Yes state, the vote is only at 46 per cent.

Sky News has now called Victoria for No.

The ACT is the only jurisdiction that voted Yes.

9.45pm — Dutton says result ‘good for country’

Opposition leader Peter Dutton says the result is “good for our country”.

He thanked No campaign leaders Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Nyunggai Warren Mundine.

“No one is owed more gratitude than each of these individuals,” he said.

“They have suffered through deeply personal and offensive attacks.”

Mr Dutton said the Coalition wants to see Indigenous disadvantage addressed.

“We just disagree on the Voice being the solution,” he said.

Ms Price said Australians had “said No to division within our constitution along the lines of race, they have said No to the gaslighting, bullying, to the manipulation”.

“They have said No to grievance and the push from activists to suggest that we are a racist country when we are absolutely not a racist country,” she said.

“We are one of, if not the greatest nation on the face of the earth. And it is time for Australians to believe that once again, to be proud to call ourselves Australian.”

9.40pm — WA leaning No

Western Australia is also looking like a strong No.

With 9 per cent counted, the No vote is on 62 per cent.

9pm — Albo accepts result

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says while the result was “not one I had hoped for, I absolutely respect the decision of the Australian people and the democratic process that has delivered it”.

“When we reflect on everything happening in the world today, we can all give thanks that here in Australia we make the big decisions peacefully and as equals, with one vote, one value.”

An emotional PM says his government fulfilled his promise to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to implement the Uluru Statement from the Heart by taking the question to the public.

“I never imagined or indeed said that it would be easy,” he said.

“Very few things in public life worth doing are. Nor could I guarantee the referendum would succeed. History told us that only eight out of 44 had done so. What I could promise was that we would go all in, that we would try, and we have.”

Mr Albanese says he accepts responsibility for the outcome.

“The proposition we advanced at this referendum was about listening to people in order to get better outcomes, and these principles are what will continue to guide me as Australia’s 31st Prime Minister,” he said.

“Our government will continue to listen to people and to communities. Our government will continue to seek better outcomes for Indigenous Australians and their children and generations to come. This is not only in the interests of Indigenous Australians. It is in the of all Australians to build a better future for our nation.”

An emotional Anthony Albanese speaks after Australia voted No. Picture: YouTube

8.45pm — No vote strong in NT

The early No vote looks very strong in the Northern Territory.

With around 15 per cent counted No is sitting on 65 per cent.

8.17pm — Yes camp slams misinformation

Yes23 director Dean Parkin has given a brief speech criticising the “unnecessarily divisive campaign”.

“To those who voted No, people of goodwill but who had doubts about what it meant, we did all we could,” he said.

“But it is clear we were not able to reach you and cut through what has been the single largest misinformation campaign this country has ever seen. Despite this result tonight I think all of us as Australians should be united.”

8pm — Labor points finger at Dutton

A Labor MP says the blame for the Voice’s failure lies with Opposition leader Peter Dutton, not Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Patrick Gorman, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister, told Sky News in Perth that Labor made no apologies for bringing the vote to the public.

“This has been sitting around for six years, it’s time the Australian people had their say,” he said. “Things changed in April. Peter Dutton went from sitting on the fence to hard No. He never put forward alternate wording of the question, what he would do instead.”

7.45pm — ‘We have not got a plan B’

Leading Yes campaigner Thomas Mayo has expressed his disappointment at the result.

Mr Mayo says he is “not angry at the Australian public” but at political leaders who “lied to the Australian people”.

“To be honest, we have not got a plan B,” he told the ABC.

“We put our faith in the Australian people. I think they were ready but there has been some really horrible political campaigning from Peter Dutton and his No campaign. It’s been disgusting, to be frank.”

7.40pm — No vote strong in Queensland

With 15 per cent of the vote counted in Queensland, No has a commanding lead of 69 per cent.

South Australia is also heavily skewed to No on 61 per cent, with nearly two thirds counted.

7.25pm — Australia votes No

The Voice to Parliament has been defeated.

South Australia has been called for No.

Based on current projections, Yes has no path to victory.

According to the AEC, 48 per cent of polling places have been counted nationally with No leading 55 per cent to 45 per cent.

7.13pm — No poised for victory

Yes will now need to win in Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia to secure a double majority.

Needless to say that is looking unlikely.

7.04pm — NSW called for No

The ABC is calling NSW for No at 57 per cent.

7pm — Tasmania called for No

Antony Green is calling Tasmania for No.

No is sitting on just under 59 per cent with less than 20 per cent of the vote counted in the southern state.

6.53pm — ACT called for Yes

ABC election analyst Antony Green is calling the ACT for Yes.

With less than 3 per cent of the vote counted Yes is on 65 per cent.

The ACT and the NT do not count towards the double majority.

6.50pm — No outperforming

Sky News election analyst Tom Connell says No was expected to be strong in the early counting appears to be “outperforming” in certain key seats in NSW and Tasmania.

6.43pm — First numbers for SA

Counting has now started in South Australia.

Nationally more than 300,000 votes have been counted, with No at around 61 per cent.

The ACT appears to have heavily voted Yes.

6.30pm — No clearly ahead

With around 34,000 votes counted, No is clearly ahead on around 63 per cent nationally.

No is currently leading in NSW, Victoria and Tasmania. These are very early numbers.

6.20pm — First results start to come in

Counting is now underway.

The first numbers from the AEC are starting to come through for Parkes, Farrer, Lyne and Whitlam in NSW and Wannon and Flinders in Victoria.

6pm — Polls close in eastern states

Polls have now closed on the east coast except for Queensland.

Voters in WA still have another three hours.

Volunteers at Gilles Street Primary School in Adelaide. Picture: Brett Hartwig

5.35pm — Voice is ‘going down’

Sky News presenter and Yes supporter Chris Kenny has conceded the Voice referendum is “going down” and predicted that barring a miracle it won’t secure a majority.

Despite the fact that the polls were yet to close, the conservative commentator conceded that published polling suggested the Yes vote can’t win.

Speaking on Sky News’ referendum coverage, he also lashed the media for not ensuring there was a “mature” debate.

“Unless there’s some sort of a miracle, this referendum is going down,’’ Kenny said.

He also accused political leaders and the media of letting down the country.

“History in Australia being made tonight. I think major parties and the media have let the country down. We have not had a mature debate,” he said.

Kenny has repeatedly clashed with No supporter Peta Credlin during the campaign.

He has previously branded the Coalition “ugly” and “cynical” for seizing the “historically significant reconciliation project” as a “partisan, political weapon to be used against the federal Labor government”.

“Senior Coalition figures now see defeating the referendum as their primary political priority to inflict political damage on the Prime Minister,” Kenny wrote in The Australian earlier this year.

“Decades of Indigenous advocacy and consultation, including by Coalition governments, driven by the noblest of intentions, are being dis­respected.”

Nationals leader David Littleproud accused the Prime Minister of “hubris.”

“He let it get away from him and he didn’t bring the parties with him and he was warned not to divide our country,” he said. “This sits solely at his feet.”

— Samantha Maiden

A Queenslander casts his vote at a school in Cairns. Picture: Brendan Radke

When will we know a result?

Counting will begin almost immediately after the polls close.

However, postal and overseas voters have 13 days for the votes to be received and counted by the Australian Electoral Commission. And with up to 1.2 million people voting by mail, it’s not insignificant.

That means we may not have an official result until October 27. However, we could have a big indication of the result by 7.30pm AEDT.

The AEC won’t announce an official result on election night.

Predictions of how the vote will go

Most pollsters report that not one state in Australia will log a majority of Yes votes.

Also, the Yes vote seems destined not to receive an overall majority.

It’s bad news for the Yes campaign.

However, a recent Newspoll showed a late swing to the Yes vote — but it probably won’t be enough to turn the tide.

Polling centre information

The polls opened at 8am and will close at 6pm.

A list of voting centre locations is available here.

How to watch the results coverage

We’ll be updating the results here, but you can also follow along on TV.

There’s coverage on Sky News, ABC, SBS, Channel 7, Channel 9.