The referendum on the Indigenous Voice to Parliament is lost: 39.94 percent YES to 60.06 percent NO.
Total voters: 17.68m; 97.7% enrolled; compulsory voting.
Turnout was around 90 percent in all States and Territories but lower in Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory (significant regional and rural areas and Indigenous populations). In the Northern Territory where turnout was only 71.5 percent, all majority Indigenous communities voted YES). The only jurisdiction to vote majority YES was the ACT at 61.3 percent; the small number of ACT votes do not count in the national majority required in four States (s128).
WfaAR comment: these results, especially the size of the NO vote, are a disaster for progress on the Republic. Firstly, most voters have not embraced fellow citizens of Indigenous ethnicity as equals. In fact, it has rejected them which is going to make it hard to achieve a “Reconciled Republic” and have full and proper Indigenous participation in the work leading up to the Republic that represents everyone. We are not yet at Square 1 of the preconditions. Secondly, politically it is calamitous as no federal government will be tempted to even think about running another referendum on any topic in the foreseeable future. As far as the Republic is concerned we are back to where we were right after the 1999 referendum, starting all over again, with the way forward and timelines more unclear than ever (see footnote).
Footnote: on 29 July 2024 in a ministerial reshuffle, the position of Assistant Minister for the Republic, created in May 2022, was deleted.
