Voice to Parliament: Australia votes No in referendum
After months of buildup and plummeting support, the results are in - and Australia won’t enshrine a Voice to parliament.
Australia will not enshrine a Voice to parliament in its constitution, after the country delivered a resounding “no” vote.
In the first referendum since 1999, a majority of people in a majority of states voted “no” to the proposal to embed an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander body in the country’s founding document.
More than 17 million people were enrolled to vote in the first bid to change the constitution in 24 years, and Saturday night’s results bring to end an intense and often divisive six week campaign and grueling 15 months since the Albanese government first committed to the referendum.
The idea of constitutional recognition of First Nations people is not new, but it was only when the Uluru Statement from the Heart called for Australians to enshrine a Voice to Parliament in its constitution that rhetoric dialled up. 
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese used his first words in the role to commit to implementing the Uluru Statement from the Heart “in full”.
Support for the Voice had plummeted in the months leading up to the referendum.
Newspoll measured support for the Voice at 60 per cent in February; which had tumbled to 37 per cent as of Friday, although Yes had gained an eleventh hour three point surge.
Despite that, the Prime Minister and Yes campaigners had maintained hopeful that enough Australians would accept the “modest request” put forward by Indigenous Australians.
Even on Saturday, the Yes campaign remained hopeful that quiet supporters and undecided voters would choose their side when they got into the ballot box.
But Opposition Leader Peter Dutton had earlier said Australians realised the Voice would be “another layer of bureaucracy”, and did not feel comfortable voting on something they had no detail on.
Mr Albanese maintained throughout the campaign, including on Saturday, that what the Voice would look like would be decided by the parliament.
Mr Albanese is due to address the nation later on Saturday night where he will make a plea for Australia to unite after what has been a divisive campaign.
Mr Dutton had earlier said that regardless of the result on Saturday night, the country had been divided, and accused Mr Albanese of being the main culprit.
He said the path forward, however, was clear.
“So we’ve got to make sure that we do everything we can to heal our country, to bring people back together,” Mr Dutton said.
“We need to make sure that we can do practical things in Indigenous communities, particularly in the Northern Territory, where it’s most acute in regional and remote areas.”
Mr Albanese too had earlier paid tributes to the trailblazers of the VoiceI pay tribute to my friend Linda Burney, to Patrick Dodson, to Malarndirri McCarthy, to the extraordinary campaigners in the Yes campaign - Aunty Pat Anderson, Noel Pearson, Marcia Langton,” he said.
“These people have given their lives to help their fellow Indigenous AUstralians, but also all Australians.
“They deserve so much respect. They have copped a lot in this campaign.
“Not one of them has questioned proceeding on this course and giving Australians the vote, because they have faith in their fellow Australians. I sincerely hope that (Yes) occurs.”
Read related topics:Indigenous Voice To Parliament