To be shocked that Australia voted NO on this referendum?

[koalaknickers]

"The Voice to Parliament was proposed in the Uluru Statement from the Heart, a 2017 document crafted by Indigenous leaders that set out a roadmap for reconciliation with wider Australia.

Australia's Indigenous citizens, who make up 3.8% of the country's 26 million population, have inhabited the land for about 60,000 years but are not mentioned in the constitution and are, by most socio-economic measures, the most disadvantaged people in the country."

Australia rejects Indigenous referendum in setback for reconciliation (msn.com)

I have family out there. I just assumed that they would have voted YES. I hope they did. Perhaps I should ask them.

My ex used to do this all the time to me. Some Brits (usually posh men) think that the 'Orstralian' accent is inherently ridiculous. It's not racism, but if it happens repeatedly, even when you ask someone to stop, it's bullying.
FYI my accent is so low-key these days that Australians often assume I'm English.

I understand the flaws but is there not a suspicion that the government deliberately had a referendum and was vague about the outcomes so it would fail and then it will not be replaced with something better?
Because not everyone will see that voting 'no' was an anti-racist decision but will instead exploit it as a tacit endorsement of racism and discrimination. There are PPs on here - saying they're Australian - and already doing exactly that.
It looks a bit as though there was the opportunity for something that was flawed or a nebulous nothing that could be filled with any fantasy future perfect scheme. Isn't something better than nothing? Couldn't that something have pushed for legislation to be implemented that breached the gaps in the referendum?

It’s not baffling/surprising - there is still a huge amount of racism in Australia and anyone who tells you there isn’t, is lying.

What’s the point of using popular vote for this? They didn’t really want to change things, did they?
I can only imagine what America would still be like if the civil rights acts was decided on by popular vote.

I feel so sad for the Aboriginals. To be treated so badly in the land of one’s ancestors . For others to come and steal someone’s land mainly for their criminals, but refuse to give them the same Rights then and down the line? They’re staying true to their roots, I guess

That is very different, as it would involve money - and a lot of it - and also blaming the current population for something that happened over 200 years ago.

Although referendums are divisive, it's nice to see one that doesn't just depend on a simple majority of votes and also needed a majority in each state (cough, Brexit, Scotland).

I think it’s massively unreasonable that they felt the need to hold a referendum on this rather than just do the decent thing and make necessary changes. Instead it’s made Australia look like a backwards, bigoted country that doesn’t care about its own indigenous people.

The referendum was held because the Uluru Statement From the Heart requested the voice be permanently placed within the constitution. There is no other way to change the constitution.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders or Indigenous Australians are better terms than "the Aboriginals".

Sorry but a lot of you are showing your ignorance on this thread, the proposed changes meant changing the Australian Constitution which required a referendum. It also reads as though a number of posters don't actually understand what the proposed changes were.

@enchantedsquirrelwood / well, I think even if you took the compensation aspect out, I think it would be no. The tendency in liberal circles is to imagine their views extend across the board. I don't think that is true at all. And I am a liberal person

I think it’s sad but not surprising

Should not be surprised if you are British. After all, members of the royal family did openly question how dark prince Harry's children would be.

Wtf 😂

"Openly question"..why, because you were told on an Oprah show? Totally irrelevant to the current discussion in any case.

Apart from it being factually inaccurate. The unelected, unaccountable, unrepresentative Citizen's Assembly did not set the wording of any Referendum. We have an Electoral Commission that does that and is subject to Judicial scrutiny with the question having to be unambiguous, fair and yes or no having a definitive meaning. If you look at Australia Referendum results they very very rarely pass ammendments on all sorts of subjects. The failure to pass an amendment is the default position for most, whatever the topic.

Shame troll hunting is banned because plenty of them are coming out the woodwork. My bad to have answered one.

I never thought Australia as a racist country (now thinking of that, I perhaps should as racism abounds in former colonies) but in these years and age?

I am just joining this thread to see what was the rationale for most people voting to exclude the original population.

Not surprised at all.

Yes, those disgusting convicts. No wonder they're so stupid. It's in their bloodlines, isn't it? Awful peasants. Why can't they listen to their betters?

Do you think we take any lead what so ever from the Royal family, even if they did say that.

The problem is that whether people voted 'no' because they thought the terms were imperfect. Or whether people voted 'no' because they were racist and didn't want representation at the heart of the constitution - the outcome looks exactly the same. And it sends a message to the world that Australia is still not ready to address racism.
The higher education the level of the voter, the more likely they were to vote 'yes'. Almost every multicultural group and faith group supported a 'yes' vote.
The politicians rejoicing about the no vote are using words like 'woke and idealistic'. They are the people who have been emboldened by a 'no' vote. People who think 'idealism' is a dirty word.

Yes, the "no" vote managed to split yes voters by also capturing people who thought it wasn't going far enough. FFS. I'm so angry. I'm Australian and I'm so bloody angry. Not one single state managed to get a yes majority. Victoria came close and then all the other even more racist states were worse.

It sounds like no one knew what it meant. In times of uncertainty people will vote for the status quo. So I don’t think this was really a vote on the indigenous people

But it’s hard to see that in a world where people are becoming increasingly divided where old divisions which have been thinly papered over are starting to reappear.

I'm old enough to remember the White Australia Policy and the £10 Poms I knew all seemed racist, toss up on going to South Africa or Australia as the white man was supreme in both.

I'm sad to hear it is still racist.