The world has reacted to the Voice referendum result

With the Voice referendum over after months of brutal campaigning, the world’s reaction has given Australia a lot to think about.

With the Voice referendum delivering a resounding No, the world is waking up to the news that Australia has voted it down.

International pundits and politicians alike have been watching carefully throughout the campaign.

In the UK, comparisons have been drawn with the Brexit vote, which saw a narrow margin of 52 per cent of voters opting to plunge Britain out of the European Union.

Like the Voice, the Brexit referendum was brought in by an incumbent Prime Minster David Cameron and saw the leader’s side launch a campaign they were confident they could win.

But the Vote Leave’s tactics soon proved too much for the Remain team, resulting in the PM resigning.

The Voice referendum’s defeat is making headlines around the world.

BBC coverage of the Voice to Parliament referendum result.

In the BBC, it was noted that the outcome will see the Prime Minister “searching for a way forward” and described the coalition as “resurgent” and “keen to capitalise on its victory”.

The New York Times described it as a moment “crushing Indigenous hopes”.

The newspaper noted the Voice was broadly supported by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders but that “fears and hopes were both overblown”.

CNN noted that the Voice’s promise of change for Indigenous Australians “couldn’t deliver”.

“With a two-letter word, Australians struck down the first attempt at constitutional change in 24 years, a move experts say will inflict lasting damage on First Nations people and suspend any hopes of modernising the nation’s founding document,” the outlet reported.

The New Zealand Herald branded the result as one that would be a setback for Australia's relationship with the Pacific.

In Singapore, The Straits Times labelled the referendum loss as risking damage to Australia's international reputation.

Across the ditch, the New Zealand Herald ran an interview with an academic who described the result as a “setback for Australia’s relations with the Pacific”.

In Singapore’s Straits Times, the no victory was characterised as “a move that risks damaging the country’s international reputation and marked a personal, though not necessarily political, blow for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese”.

Mr Albanese delivered an emotional speech on Saturday night following the loss, saying while the result was not what he had hoped for, he respects the decision of the Australian people.

He said the result did not define Australia.

“And it will not divide us,’’ he said. “We are not yes voters or no voters. We are all Australian. We must take our country beyond this debate, without forgetting while we had it in the first place.”

Mr Albanese said he always knew securing victory would “not be easy”.

“Nor could I guarantee the referendum would succeed. History told us that only eight out of 44 had done so,’’ he said.

“What I could promise was that we would go all in and that we would try.

“And we have given Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people the fulfilment of their request.

“We argued that this change, not out of convenience, but from conviction. I believe it was the right thing to do.”

Originally published as The world has reacted to the Voice referendum result