In Australia’s first referendum in more than two decades, the vast majority of people appear to have voted ‘no’ to recognizing Indigenous people. Australian media report this. Although the last polling stations have yet to close, the no voters appear to have an unbridgeable lead.
The country was deeply divided over Saturday’s referendum, in which Australians were required to vote on whether they want to amend the constitution to recognize Aboriginal people and residents of the Torres Strait archipelago as the country’s original population. They could also speak out about including a special ‘voice’ for this group in parliament, so that the indigenous population can have a say when policy is made that affects them.
Progressive Prime Minister Anthony Albanese previously called the referendum a “historic opportunity to unite Australians”, but many opposition parties opposed the proposal. Opponents fear that the ‘voice’ this group would get in parliament – in the form of an advisory committee that discusses issues that affect this ethnic minority – will actually increase racial inequality. They are also afraid that the committee would gain a lot of power.
The two indigenous groups in the country, Aboriginals and a smaller group consisting of the population of the Torres Strait Islands that lie between northern Australia and Papua New Guinea, consist of almost a million people, about 3.8 percent of the total Australian population. They are very vulnerable. For example, they live on average almost nine years shorter than other Australians.
Also read this report prior to the referendum: Will Aboriginal people have their own voice in the Australian Constitution? The historic referendum splits the country in two