‘Echo chamber of elites’: outer urban areas ignored by yes campaign, Labor MP Mike Freelander say

South-west Sydney MP says ‘a lot of people felt disfranchised’ as Hunter MP Dan Repacholi says voters were ‘more keen to hear about cost of living’

The Yes23 campaign to enshrine an Indigenous voice in the constitution “ignored” outer urban areas and was an “echo chamber of elites talking to elites”, the Labor MP Mike Freelander has said.

Freelander, the member for Macarthur in south-west Sydney, is one of several Labor MPs “very disappointed” but not surprised by the yes side’s poor showing outside inner-city areas.

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Indigenous communities overwhelmingly voted yes to Australia’s voice to parliament

Polling catchments where Indigenous Australians form more than 50% of the population voted on average 63% in favour of the voice

Regions with a high proportion of Indigenous Australians overwhelmingly voted yes in the referendum – including the community where prominent no campaigner Jacinta Nampijinpa Price’s family is from.

The yes vote in polling catchments where Indigenous Australians formed more than 50% of the population was, on average, 63% in favour of enshrining an Indigenous voice to parliament, according to political analyst Simon Jackman, who estimated the proportion of Indigenous Australians at each polling area based on data from the 2022 election.

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Jacinta Nampijinpa Price questions AEC ‘conduct’ after largely Indigenous communities vote yes

Shadow Indigenous Australians minister says ‘there’s a lot of manipulation’ in remote communities

The shadow minister for Indigenous Australians, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, has questioned the impartiality of the Australian Electoral Commission’s delivery of remote polling.

Price also suggested people handing out how-to-vote cards “overpower vulnerable Aboriginal communities”, seeking to counter the fact many Indigenous communities had voted yes to a voice to parliament.

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How did your electorate vote in the voice referendum? Check out our interactive map

While electorate-level results play no part in the overall Indigenous voice referendum outcome, polling data reveals interesting demographic trends

The voice to parliament referendum has been defeated, with a majority of people and every state voting against the proposal.

While electorate-by-electorate results play no part in a referendum, the results can reveal interesting geographic trends. On Saturday, the eastern suburbs and inner west in Sydney recorded a majority yes vote, compared with a majority no vote in the western suburbs.

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Indigenous voice to parliament: Australia rejects constitutional change as Albanese says vote ‘not end of the road’

Every state and territory except the ACT votes against voice, but Indigenous Australians minister Linda Burney vows to ‘move forward’

Australian voters have resoundingly rejected a proposal to enshrine an Indigenous voice to parliament in the country’s constitution, with voters in every state and territory bar the ACT opposing the change.

The Australian Electoral Commission said 59% of the country voted no as of 10.30pm AEDT on Saturday. The state with the highest yes vote was Victoria, at 46%, while the Queensland had the lowest yes vote, at 32%.

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Indigenous Australians grapple with ‘gut-wrenching’ result but pledge to ‘keep fighting’

First Nations leaders who campaigned for the voice say the result is deeply disappointing and could set back reconciliation

First Nations people are digesting the no result after a bruising and often ugly campaign, with those who stood for and against the voice vowing to continue to fight on against the racism, injustice and inequities Indigenous people face.

Australia has overwhelmingly voted against enshrining an Indigenous voice to parliament in the constitution to advise policy and lawmakers on issues affecting First Nations people.

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From ‘gut-wrenching’ to ‘respect’: how prominent Australians reacted to the voice referendum result

Linda Burney calls on Australia to keep listening to First Nations people, while Warren Mundine says result is ‘not a celebration’

Prominent Australians and campaigners from each side have responded after voters rejected the Indigenous voice to parliament proposal.

The result was clear soon after polls closed in eastern states and on Saturday evening the nation began processing what the defeat meant and discussing a path forward for reconciliation.

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Australia rejects proposal to recognise Aboriginal people in constitution

Voice to parliament referendum fails in defeat that Indigenous advocates will see as a blow to progress towards reconciliation

Australians have resoundingly rejected a proposal to recognise Aboriginal people in the country’s constitution and establish a body to advise parliament on Indigenous issues.

Saturday’s voice to parliament referendum failed, with the defeat clear shortly after polls closed.

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The voice referendum 2023 live updates: reaction and full results after no vote for Australian Indigenous voice to parliament – latest news

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The prime minister is asked “what happens tomorrow?” after the vote. He says:

A yes vote means we wake up like we did after the apology to the Stolen Generations, as a stronger country with a burden lifted from all of us, having shown respect for the First Australians and the great privilege that we have to share this continent with the oldest continuous culture on Earth.

A simple request by the first Australians just to be heard, to have a voice, to be listened to about matters that affect them. A non-binding advisory committee. Nothing to fear here but everything to gain.

I sincerely hope that Australians, when they walk into that ballot box today, vote yes – vote yes to accept this gracious invitation as the Uluru Statement from the Heart so eloquently says in its one page to overcome the torment of powerlessness that has led to an eight-year life expectancy gap, to a greater chance of an Indigenous young male going to jail than university, to an Indigenous young woman twice as likely to die in childbirth as a non-Indigenous woman.

I tell you what division represents in this country – division is the division between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

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‘Don’t slam the door on the children’: Noel Pearson makes final pitch on voice referendum

Australia will find it almost impossible to tackle racism if the vote is no, yes campaign leader says

Saturday’s referendum vote will be the only chance Australia will have to tackle racism and guarantee a better future for Aboriginal children, leading yes campaigner Noel Pearson has said.

In his final pitch to undecided voters, Pearson said the voice was the culmination of decades of struggle by leaders before him, adding he did not want to pass that burden to the next generation.

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Australians to vote in historic voice referendum as yes campaign makes desperate final push

When will there be a result and what happens after? Is a voice to parliament doomed?

Australians go to the polls today in a historic referendum – the first in 24 years – that will determine if Indigenous people are recognised in the country’s constitution through a voice to parliament.

The vote is the most significant step in a decades-long push for constitutional recognition of Australia’s Indigenous people. It is the culmination of a six-year-long process since the Uluru statement from the heart was delivered to the Australian people, calling for a constitutionally enshrined voice, a committee of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to give advice on policies affecting First Nations Australians.

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How to watch the Indigenous voice referendum results

Public broadcasters the ABC, SBS and NITV as well as Sky News will follow the count live, as commercial channels keep coverage to a minimum

Voters keen to know the result of the referendum on Saturday night will find blanket coverage on the public broadcasters, ABC, SBS and NITV, as well as on Sky News Australia, but the commercial networks are keeping their reporting to a minimum.

The SBS and NITV presenters, Anton Enus and Natalie Ahmat, a Mudburra and Wagadagam woman, will kick off the four-hour simulcast at 6.30pm with news and live crosses to reporters on the ground.

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Australia news live: Minns says NSW police response to pro-Palestine rally will be ‘reasonable and proportionate’; voice referendum latest updates

Follow today’s news live, including the latest updates on the voice referendum

A strong no vote could hold back reforms in Indigenous affairs, Wyatt says

Ken Wyatt said he doesn’t think the government has made a mistake deciding against legislating the voice if the referendum is defeated, but he fears what a strong no vote will mean for the future of Indigenous affairs:

We’ve got to respect what Australians are saying if there is an overwhelming no majority …

The fear I have now is with a strong no, whether the government will become reticent to be adventurous on doing significant reforms in the future in the Aboriginal affairs portfolio, and on programs and policies that could reshape the landscape of Aboriginal affairs and the way in which Aboriginal people access the plethora of services that we all take for granted across this nation as our inherent right.

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‘If not now, when?’: Thomas Mayo pleads with voters not to delay Indigenous voice to future generations

Leading yes campaigner questions how many lives will be ‘lost or cut short’ in the meantime if referendum does not succeed

The leading yes campaigner Thomas Mayo says problems facing Indigenous Australians cannot be fixed without a mechanism like the voice to parliament and has pleaded with voters to back the referendum rather than delaying the vital reform to future generations.

Mayo called the voice “the moral and logical thing” for Australians to support, saying it was inevitable that something like the advisory body would need to be set up at some point.

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Australia news live: Julian Leeser makes last-minute plea for voice; thousands rally for Israel

Former shadow attorney-general says the referendum should be about ‘hope’; Peter Dutton and NSW premier speak at Sydney gathering. Follow the day’s news live

Morrison-era climate agency to be reviewed on effectiveness in preparing for natural disasters

A climate agency created in the wake of the Black Summer bushfires will be put under the microscope as Australia heads into a hot weather season predicted to deliver extreme weather events.

Our government is committed to building greater national climate and disaster risk information capability, to provide authoritative data and analytical tools for governments, industry, and the public.

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Voice no campaigner claims Uluru statement supporters want ‘their own military’

Kerry White, a Narungga elder, former One Nation candidate and Warren Mundine backer, also claims the stolen generation was not ‘stolen’

A no campaigner linked to Warren Mundine’s Recognise a Better Way group has falsely claimed supporters of the Uluru statement want “their own military” and voiced a conspiracy theory that the creation of Indigenous treaties would see the UN take over Australian land.

Kerry White, a Narungga elder, one-time One Nation candidate, and committeemember of the Recognise a Better Way group set up by Mundine, went on to allege the stolen generation “wasn’t stolen” and that there was “nothing wrong” with assimilation policies.

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Australia news live: Sydney pro-Palestine rally to go ahead without NSW police approval; Cheng Lei freed from China

Follow the day’s news live

Heavy traffic near Sydney airport after truck crash and fluid spill

Traffic remains heavy near Sydney airport after a two-truck crash caused a fluid spill.

This is one of the most important priorities for us coming out of what’s occurred in the previous days.

Minister Wong is [working] really hard on that. The Australian government will do whatever is necessary to protect [its] citizens.

We’ll do whatever is necessary to make sure we can secure the safety of Australians … We’re working very hard to make sure we protect Australians not just overseas, but here at home.

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Australians can ‘lift burden of history’ with yes vote, says emotional Albanese at Uluru

Prime minister visibly moved by song and dance of traditional owners as he attempts to rally the nation behind the voice plan

Australians have the opportunity to “lift the burden of history” from Indigenous people by voting yes to the voice to parliament, a clearly emotional Anthony Albanese has told a gathering of traditional owners at Uluru.

The prime minister sat with leaders from central Australia, including the most senior traditional owner of the rock, Reggie Uluru, on a hot afternoon in the national park at the base of the rock on Tuesday.

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Australia news live: protesters at ‘agitated’ pro-Palestine rally at Opera House may face charges, NSW police say

Home affairs minister issues social media reminder that Hamas is listed as a terrorist organisation in Australia. Follow live

Here are some images of the Australian landmarks that were illuminated in blue and white colours last night in support of Israel.

The Sydney Opera House:

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A no vote will ‘bring shame upon us’ and signal reconciliation is no longer viable, Noel Pearson says

In a late plea for a yes vote in the Indigenous voice to parliament referendum, the respected leader says he fears ‘for the future of my people’ if it is defeated

Noel Pearson says he will walk away from advocating for a “middle path” of compromise if the voice to parliament referendum fails, claiming reconciliation would not be viable in the event of a no vote.

The longtime Indigenous activist and respected community leader says he would instead allow a new generation of Indigenous leaders to chart a different path forward.

Pearson said he fears “for the future of my people” if the referendum is defeated on Saturday, making a late plea for voters to vote yes in recognition of Australia’s history and avoid a failure he says would be “ugly as sin”.

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