Australians clearly rejected, on Saturday, a reform of Aboriginal rights, submitted by referendum, at the end of an acrimonious campaign which deepened racial divisions in the continental country.
After counting the votes of three-quarters of the country’s polling stations, it appears that 55% of voters voted “no” to the text which proposed to recognize in the Constitution the Aborigines as the first inhabitants of the island-continent and of give them a specific “voice”.
The plan called for the creation of an advisory council — nicknamed “The Voice” — to Parliament and government to advise on laws and public policies that affect Indigenous, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations, which number 984,000. people, or 3.8% of the Australian population.
“Tonight I want to acknowledge that for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people this campaign has been a heavy burden to bear. And this result will be very difficult to bear,” said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Initially largely in the majority, the camp in favor of changing the 1901 Constitution has continued to lose ground in recent months, notably due to the campaign led by the conservative opposition, led by the former Minister of Defense Peter Dutton.
For the conservative camp, the reform constituted constitutional tinkering and would have created divisions within society, by creating a distinction in citizenship.
“It’s a difficult result, a very difficult result,” said “Yes23” campaign manager Dean Parkin. “We did everything we could, and we will come back to it,” he assured.
The campaign led to an avalanche of racist comments on online media.
False information has also circulated, some of which claims that property titles could be called into question or that reparations would have to be paid if the reform passes.
For the supporters of “The Voice”, this reform was to help heal the still raw wounds of a past of colonization and racial repression.
Today, more than 200 years after British colonization, Indigenous Australians, whose ancestors have lived on the continent for at least 60,000 years, have the same rights as other citizens, but they still suffer from stark inequalities.
“Day of Shame”
A “yes” supporter, Karen Wyatt, 59, estimated before the vote that if “The Voice” was rejected, it would be “a day of shame for Australia”.
Dee Duchesne, 60, who campaigned for “no”, explained that she wanted “to avoid an additional layer of bureaucracy being added to our Constitution”.
She said she was called racist while distributing leaflets near a polling station in Sydney. “I’m not,” she says.
Aboriginal leader Thomas Mayo has expressed his anger at those who campaigned for a “no” vote.
“They lied to the Australians. This dishonesty should not be forgotten by the Australian people.”
“There should be repercussions for this type of behavior in our democracy, they should not be able to get away with this.”
The center-left Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, who was heavily involved in the campaign, launched a final appeal to voters on Saturday, who did not hear him. “It’s about respect for indigenous Australians. It’s about how we see ourselves as a nation, but also how the world sees us,” he argued.
Voting was compulsory for Australia’s 17.5 million voters.
To be adopted, the reform had to receive not only a majority of votes nationally, but also in at least four of the country’s six states. She got neither.