They said Australia didn’t need the Voice. In less than 90 minutes, they were vindicated

Brisbane: Opposition leader Peter Dutton and his Indigenous Australians spokeswoman Jacinta Nampijinpa Price have hailed a crushing victory in the Voice to parliament referendum, as they called for a Royal Commission into child sexual abuse in Indigenous communities.

The No camp achieved victory within the first 90 minutes but Dutton and Price waited until the prime minister had addressed the nation before they stood up in Brisbane to address their successful campaign to persuade Australians to reject a proposal to enshrine an indigenous advisory authority in the constitution.

Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and Liberal Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price hail the defeat of the referendum. Credit: Dan Peled

Dutton said the referendum result was good for the country and that while the majority of Australians would be pleased with the outcome, some would also be disappointed and that it was vital Australia did not remain divided.

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

Dutton said he respected the views of those who had voted Yes and that “this is the referendum that Australia did not need to have. The proposal and the process should have been designed to unite Australia, not to divide us”.

“I will do my utmost to lead with courage and to do what is right to implement the practical solutions required to improve outcomes and close the gap,” he said.

“So tonight I again commit the coalition to implementing a Royal Commission into child sexual abuse in indigenous communities and an audit into spending on indigenous programs.”

Price thanked Australians for “believing in our nation” and said the vast majority of Australians “want what’s best for each and every of us, including our most marginalised Indigenous Australians”.

“The Australian people have overwhelmingly voted saying No to the referendum. They have said No to division within our Constitution along the lines of race. They have said No to the gaslighting, bullying, to the manipulation,” she said.

“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 directly addressed those who voted Yes: “Please know that we as a Coalition have always got the best interests of all Australians at heart. We want to make sure that we’re fighting for a better future for all Australians.”

Leading No campaigner Warren Mundine said the Yes campaign made a mistake by talking to the elites. Credit: Dan Peled

Asked if it was time for an older generation of Indigenous leaders to leave the stage, Price said “it is 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 has evidently got us nowhere”.

Speaking earlier to No campaign supporters gathered at a Brisbane city hotel, leading No campaigner Nyunggai Warren Mundine said the Yes campaign had made the mistake of speaking to elites rather than ordinary voters, particularly in migrant communities.

“For me it [the result] shows the Labor Party and the Yes campaigners were totally out of touch with the migrant community,” he said.

“Tomorrow, the hard work must begin. This result does not give governments permission to throw up their hands, declaring nothing more can be done,” he told No supporters, including the executive director of Advance Australia, Matthew Sheehan.

“The past 12 months have shown me that the vast majority of Australians want improvements for those Indigenous Australians who are struggling and that they want change. Australians want governments to do the job that needs to be done to get real, practical outcomes.”

In a fiery interview on SBS, Mundine and Aboriginal academic Marcia Langton – a prominent Yes supporter – clashed, with Mundine accusing Langton of having “racially abused this country”.

“She called Australians – Australia – a racist country. She has no credibility in this. She has – she needs to get out and actually meet Australians, Australians are not racist. They are incredible people,” he said.

Langton fired back that she had not accused Australians of being racist but rather asked them to think about the “racist underpinnings of the No campaign messaging”.

“That’s not what I said. What I said was that the messaging of the No campaign is based in some racial, racialist assumptions,” she said.

South Australia Liberal senator Kerrynne Liddle, a leading No campaigner, told Sky News she was “certainly not celebrating the result, this [the referendum] was a terrible thing to do to Australians”.

Liddle accused the prime minister of not leading to Indigenous people and promised that from next week, she would be asking for an inquiry into Indigenous organisations and how they spent their money.

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