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.

I live in the state with the highest ‘no’ vote, but my electorate was almost 50:50 and my progressive suburb was plastered in ‘yes’ signs so the result really caught me off guard. I begrudgingly voted yes but fully understand the scepticism around the lack of detail. It just felt so sad that indigenous people would wake up to the rejection of a ‘no’ vote. I actually suspect that in reality the voice would have been tokenistic and the advice mostly be ignored.

The reality for many aboriginal people is that they live in incredibly poor conditions. I recommend reading coronial inquests from North Queensland or the Northern Territory (like the ones below) for some insight into what life is like. I really struggle to imagine how the voice would really have had any meaningful impact.

https://www.courts.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/86854/cif-12yr-old-boy-kowanyama20090919.pdf

https://justice.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/957258/D02392017-James-Mamarika-and-Leering.pdf

This . Most comments from people who have no idea

Ironic really that someone calling Aussies racist should be so quick to make such sweeping statements about an entire nation. I live in Australia and voted Yes, but I do know people voted no for a myriad of reasons, including people who voted no because they thought the Voice didn't go far enough to address the problems around Aboriginal issues. The Yes campaign was a mess, and I'm not surprised they lost, there was so much fear mongering and lies spread by the No campaign. For what its worth, yes there are racists in Australia, but no more than in the UK and Ireland( I've lived in all three countries). And as so many Aussies are first or second genreration from countries all over the world, I actually find it much more international and inclusive than any where else I've lived, with the possible exception of London. So please, keep your knee jerk nonsense to yourself if you have never lived here, and your aunties visit twenty years ago does not count as your lived experience.

@Ifeellikeateenageragain are you familiar with the definition of the word "exceptionally"? You said Australia was "exceptionally racist".

Ah I see. You are taking issue with a word in my post which you feel is hyperbolic. Rather than the substance of the post. I retract the "exceptionally* and replace with "disgustingly"

Dog whistling off into the sunset

@Ifeellikeateenageragain Actually I took issue with a word in your post that was factually incorrect.

Unfortunately no, I am not at all surprised by this, its a very racist place, so is NZ. Have you ever visited? Even as a visitor you'll encounter it, I have lived there too and I think people would be surprised at both countries. I did not enjoy it. We have to remember and talk about what colonisation did to those countries, their indigenous populations are a minority- same as Hawaii- and that means you'll never get a good vote if you ask the population. NZ just voted in a right wing govt and one of the coalition partners wants a referendum on their treaty! It's insane to even think about but it again, doesn't surprise me. I found both countries racist, sexist and quite far behind the rest of the world in many areas. Its sad and I am very sorry for aboriginal Australians today, for most it won't come as a shock to be honest, but it will still hurt. There are a lot of great videos on YouTube about the stolen generation, many of them and their families don't know where they came from to this day. So many sad stories from Australia.

I’m not surprised. When I lived there I found it to be an incredibly racist place.

I guess it will greatly depend on your experiences and your own race, but I'm British, lived in Australia and UK, but visited Australia many times to see extended relatives and I would not agree that the Uk is the same when it comes to racism, or sexism. Australia is so much worse as a colonised place, and I encountered racism way too many times- and even with white Australians I have met in London too who tried to defend the stolen generation. Colonisation leaves a long legacy and I think people underestimate the impact.

When visiting Britain I am stunned by the racism there. How dare they call us Aussies racist - what a joke .We come from many, many different backgrounds here and ‘ white’ Australia is very much a thing of the past. We are one, but we are many and from all the lands on earth we come. The recent debacle sought to divide us and my First Nations friends all voted NO.

@MerryMarigold I have a view that Australia is more racist than the UK. My grandmother was Anglo Indian. As with racially mixed people there was a range of browner to lighter amongst her siblings. The 'whiter' ones were able to emigrate to Australia (2 out of 6) but my grandmother was at the browner end and rejected. It was nothing to do with qualifications. She was a qualified teacher and her sister had no qualifications. They seemed to value skin colour over education. I'm not sure if they told her the reason or if she guessed it but she was a lot darker. Yes, it was a long time ago (the 1950s!) but it shows the UK were more progressive then, which is saying something, and I'm afraid it's left an impression on me regarding Australia so many years later

That was the 1950’s when the Immigration Restriction Act was in force. The Immigration Restriction Act came into legislation in 1901, where it basically restricted immigration to white peoples and thus Act ended in 1958. At this point the ‘White Australia Policy’ had become ingrained in the Australian psyche. Even after the Act formally ended the White Australia Policy pretty much went up to 1972, when it was crushed by politicians with the support of many Australians of the day, and then the work was done to implement the Racial Discrimination Act in 1975. So, of note, Australians had really had 70 odd years where their Government had something politically in force against non-Whites. While the young and progressive fought to change this, it is unreasonable to expect a bunch of old codgers to suddenly do a flip on everything they had been brainwashed through their entire lives.

Also, your grandmothers sister being denied entry under the Immigration Restriction Act in the 1950’s is in no way relevant to Australia today.

Not surprised in the slightest. One of the reasons I left Australia was due to the racism.

It isn’t just the British calling Aussies racist. It’s what the world is thinking right now going by my social media.

Ooh Metropolitan Elites, that old chestnut.

The parallels with the non-binding Brexit vote simply will not go away will they ?

I’m curious to know what the posters who are decrying this vote as racist think of the Blak Sovereignty movement’s “progressive no” position. Obviously, you’ll all be very well informed on that, judging by the confidence with which you’ve given your views so far.

The only successful referenda have had bipartisan support. The conservative parties decided not to support the proposal; the proposal was doomed thereafter.
I don’t know anyone who voted no in the referendum. The electorate I live in voted yes and the State at the end of counting today also had just over a 50% yes vote.
The First Nations vote was also split into the yes and no camp.

Yes- I thought it was a foregone conclusion too.😢

No, I’m not in the UK. In Aus we’re called it on the news, on sports shows, during matches, on the radio sports shows. Vile disgusting racism.

Pleas provide evidence of that word being used in sports shows and on the news.

The only time I’ve heard that term is from UK nationals. Otherwise never heard it used in Australia.
Maybe it’s a reflection of the radio and tv stations one follows.

Why did you vote no?

You will be waiting a while

Umm....ok.....my point was it must be difficult for the Indigenous people to get jobs and progress. They didn't seem to be represented in Sydney's CBD area, for instance working or shopping. Perhaps because too many of them had to live in places like this when I was there?

Sydney's Aboriginal ghetto to be bulldozed - BBC News

I wasn't discussing racial stereotyping in the first place, so don't understand your accusation? I'll go further then, I hardly saw anyone who wasn't white. Those few who weren't were Asian. It seemed much less multicultural to me than London was at the time.