The Voice referendum LIVE updates: PM laments Yes vote loss as Australia rejects constitutional change; every state votes No

Thank you for following our live coverage of the result Voice referendum, and the responses to its defeat. It’s time to leave the blog tonight, so we’ll leave you with a few key points.

• Every state in Australia voted down the proposal to enshrine an Indigenous Voice to parliament in the Constitution, with ACT being the only jurisdiction to support the proposal. While the votes are still being counted, so far 60 per cent of the nation rejected the Voice. Tasmania was the first state to return a result shortly after 7pm, followed by NSW, South Australia, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia.
• A sombre Prime Minister Anthony Albanese addressed the media at Parliament House, saying he respected the outcome of the referendum, and called for the nation to seek a new, optimistic way forward, saying that the path to Indigenous reconciliation wasn’t dead. “We argued for this change not out of convenience but from conviction, because that’s what people deserve from their government. And of course, when you do the hard things, when you aim high, sometimes you fall short. And tonight we acknowledge, understand and respect that we have,” he said.
• Beside him, Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney, said the No result means it is a “day of sadness” for many Australians, but not the end of reconciliation. She said she would have more to say in the coming months about the government’s future plans for bridging the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. “We will carry on, and we will move forward, and we will thrive. This is not the end of reconciliation,” she said.
• Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the outcome of the referendum was “good for our country” and accused Albanese of arrogance in his campaigning for constitutional change. He used the opportunity to repeated his call to implement a royal commission into child sexual abuse in Indigenous communities.
• Coalition shadow minister for Indigenous Australians, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, said Australians need to “step away from grievance” when it comes to creating better outcomes for Indigenous Australians. “I think it is time for a new era in Indigenous policy and the Indigenous narrative,” she said.
• Indigenous Voice supporters have called for a week of silence to “grieve the outcome of the referendum and reflect on its meaning and significance”, and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags to fly at half-mast.

Noel Pearson calls it “the elephant and the mouse problem that has characterised Indigenous affairs” – the fact that Aboriginal people, who make up 3 per cent of the Australian population, have “extreme minority status” and have had no choice but to tolerate discrimination, and then beg for recognition, from the 97 per cent.

Yes campaigner Noel Pearson has likened Indigenous affairs to an ‘elephant and mouse’ problem.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

On Saturday, the elephant stomped on the mouse. The only merciful part was the speed of the result. The Herald and The Age called the referendum for the No vote at 7.29pm. Vote counting had not even started in Queensland or Western Australia yet. In the end, not a single state voted Yes.

The No vote swiftly obliterated the hopes of the people whose lives are not just determined by their historical suffering, but also trapped by its contemporary version.

Through painstaking effort over years, First Nations people came up with a self-determined solution for reconciliation, something they believed would mend the extreme disadvantage under which they live. They called it the Voice.

The mouse knew it couldn’t scare the elephant if it wanted success. The Voice lobby moved slowly. Cautiously. They sought bipartisan support. For many years, they had it.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the referendum result must be met with grace and humility.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

During the campaign to have the Voice enshrined in the constitution, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had pitched for soaring optimism and faith in his fellow Australians.

He held weakly onto that faith as he addressed the nation at 9pm on Saturday.

He appeared shattered, and deeply moved, as he said that the referendum defeat would not be “the end of the road”.

Read Jacqueline’s full analysis

The debate over an Indigenous Voice, and particularly the past 14 months since Prime Minister Anthony Albanese revealed draft wording of the referendum question, has been a challenging time in my household.

As millions of Australians cast their vote on Saturday, my concern was how I’d explain the nation’s decision to my kids if the Voice was rejected.

Australian voters have rejected an Indigenous Voice to parliament.Credit: Asanka Ratnayake

I am now faced with this reality. What do I say? What comes next?

My children’s school and kindergarten this year optimistically and proudly embraced a Yes position. As one of the few Aboriginal parents, I was encouraged by and proud of their early stance. It signalled the community cared about Aboriginal people and their right to not only have a say, but to speak up.

However, when support for the Voice dipped and from April dramatically slid in the polls, as a parent, I found myself increasingly concerned.

As the referendum date drew closer, my kids – like other primary school-aged kids all over the country – couldn’t comprehend how a No vote could even be a thing.

A No vote tells my kids, who are proudly Birpai, that the world surrounding them doesn’t want them in it, or care what they have to say. It’s a rejection of them.

Read Jack’s full article

Going back to the Prime Minister’s earlier press conference in Canberra, Anthony Albanese said the next national vote would be a federal election.

“I made it very clear that this was the only referendum that I was proposing in this term. I made no commitments about any further referendums,” he said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has ruled out another referendum this term.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Albanese said besides a referendum, on election night last year he also promised Australians cheaper childcare and housing, national reconstruction, new industry and climate policy.

“I have gone through and fulfilled all of them,” he said.

“I am someone who believes that we need to restore faith in politics. And one of the ways that we do that is by saying what we will do, and then doing what we have said we would do. That is what we have done tonight. And I make no apologies for that.

He ended the press conference with a quote from former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, “Success is not final - value is not fatal - is the courage to continue that counts.”

“We intend is a government to continue to do what we can to close the gap, to do what we can, to advance reconciliation, to do what we can to listen to the first Australians,” Albanese said.

Returning to Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s press conference, where he used his speech to repeat his intention to implement a royal commission into child sexual abuse in Indigenous communities.

He also restated his call for an audit into spending on Indigenous programs, while accusing Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of arrogance.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and Coalition spokeswoman for Indigenous Australians, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, in Brisbane.Credit: Dan Peled

“As the Leader of the Opposition, I believe that we need to come together to tackle challenges, to help families struggling with the cost of living. That needs to be the Prime Minister’s priority now,” he said.

“Importantly, we must also redouble our efforts to improve outcomes for Indigenous Australians in those disadvantaged communities and to close the gap. That includes an urgent need to boost law and order, to increase school attendance and employment at many remote communities.”

He said his preferred approach means “listening less to activists and more to people in those communities”.

Asked what the first thing would be that the Coalition would do for Indigenous Australians following the result, Dutton replied would continue to support Price and Liberal senator Kerrynne Liddle, who would need to formulate policies ahead of the federal election.

“As I said, we called last year for a royal commission into child sexual abuse within Indigenous communities and the government should take up that offer immediately,” he said.

Taking aim at Albanese, Dutton said “strong leaders” didn’t divide the country.

“I think there is a real arrogance in the way in which the Prime Minister has approached his discussion with the Australian people. Even tonight in his speech you can hear the words, almost of contempt, for the Australian people, dripping from what he is saying. That doesn’t have any place,” he said.

Western Australia has also rejected enshrined an Indigenous Voice to parliament in the constitution.

The results from WA mean all states have voted No in the referendum, fulfilling No campaigner Warren Mundine’s prediction from earlier tonight.

Price says Australians need to “step away from grievance” when it comes to creating better outcomes for Indigenous Australians.

“I think it is time for a new era in Indigenous policy and the Indigenous narrative,” she said.

“Attempting to bring about change through grievance is evidently got us nowhere. It is time to accept that we are all part of the fabric of this nation, that Indigenous Australians are also Australian citizens.”

Price said she looks forward to the future, and, addressing Yes voters, said the Coalition had the “best interests of all Australians at heart.”

“We want to make sure that we’re fighting for a better for all Australians. But going forward, we need to prioritise where our most marginalised are,” she said.

Price said the gap wasn’t necessarily between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, but between those in remote, marginalised communities and others.

“The Australian people want practical outcomes, a unified country where we can move forward together. Once again, I want to thank the Australian people for delivering this result. We hear you loud and clear,” she said.

Shadow minister for Indigenous Australians, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, has thanked Australians for the defeating the Voice to parliament referendum.

“The Australian people have overwhelmingly voted saying no to the referendum,” she said.

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has thanked Australians for voting down the referendum.Credit: Dan Peled

“We are one of the - 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. Because until we can be proud, we can’t form a position where we are strong enough to tackle the big issues in our country.”

She said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had failed to provide detail on the proposed advisory body.

“When we kept asking questions, we were receiving any answers whatsoever. We could not be shown with any clarity, or it could not be demonstrated how this proposal was supposed to support our most marginalised Indigenous Australians,” she said.

“And it has been a shame that throughout the campaign that we have been accused of misleading this country through … misinformation, when it was a campaign of no information whatsoever.”

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says the outcome of the referendum is “good for our country” and that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese needs to take responsibility for the defeat.

“While the majority of Australians will be pleased with the outcome, there will be Australians who will be disappointed as well,” Dutton said from Brisbane, adding the result didn’t divide Australians as people.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says the outcome is good for the nation.Credit: Dan Peled

“What matters is that we all accept the result in this great spirit of our democracy. 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: 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.”

He said Australians wanted to see Indigenous disadvantage addressed.

“We just disagree on the Voice being the solution. And while yes and no voters may hold differences of opinion, these opinions of difference do not diminish a love for our country or our regard for each other. This is the referendum that Australia did not need to have,” he said.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is speaking after the debate of the referendum.