The deputy prime minister stated on Sunday that Australia will seek new methods to improve Indigenous living conditions following the resounding rejection of a proposal to establish a new advocacy committee by Australian electors.
Except for the Australian Capital Territory, every state and territory on the mainland voted against a proposal to enshrine in the constitution an Indigenous Voice to Parliament to advocate on behalf of the nation’s most disadvantaged ethnic minority.
Richard Marles, the Deputy Prime Minister, stated that his government remains committed to enhancing Indigenous welfare in order to close the eight-year disparity in average life expectancy between Indigenous Australians and the rest of the community.
Marles told Australian Broadcasting Corporation, “We need time to figure out precisely what the next steps will be, and I believe that’s something that people can appreciate.”
Marles added, “coming out of this referendum, there is a greater call for action to close the gap.”
As a sign of their disappointment, Indigenous Voice campaigners lowered the Aboriginal flags to half-staff across Australia on Sunday.
The proponents had anticipated that the Voice’s recommendations would result in enhanced government service delivery and better outcomes for Indigenous people.
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The Struggle for Recognition and Reform Amidst Referendum Setbacks
Indigenous Australians, who make up only 3.8% of the population, have a suicide rate double the national average, are more likely to be incarcerated than other Australians, and are afflicted by maladies in the remote Outback that have been eradicated in other affluent nations.
Sunday’s most recent vote count revealed that more than 60 percent of voters opposed the Voice. There was a consensus of support for the Voice in Outback in Northern Territory polling booths. This region has the greatest proportion of Aboriginal residents in Australia, indicating that the Voice was popular among Indigenous Australians.
Numerous Voice supporters accused opposing legislators of disseminating misinformation and disinformation about the Voice. Indigenous academic Marcia Langton, who helped formulate the Voice proposal, stated that opposition leader Peter Dutton’s “no” campaign “cemented racism into the body politic.”
“The country has been contaminated. This awful outcome has no remedy, Langton wrote in The Saturday Paper.
Dutton alleged that by conducting the referendum, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was attempting to divide Australians.
“Australia did not need to hold this referendum. “The proposal and process should have been designed to unite Australians, not divide us,” said Dutton.
Albanese attributed the failure to Dutton’s campaign against the measure. Never has a referendum succeeded without the backing of the major parties. After conceding defeat, Albanese remarked, “When you do difficult things and aim high, you sometimes fall short.”
The Aboriginal Minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, told Indigenous people that the recent referendum campaign months had been “tough.”
“But be confident in who you are. Be proud of your identity,’ burst out a distraught Burney after conceding that the referendum had failed.
“Be proud that you are a part of 65,000 years of history and culture. And your proper position in this country. “We will persevere, advance, and prosper,” she added.
This is the second time Australians have rejected a referendum that would have included Indigenous recognition in the constitution.
Australians rejected the addition of a preamble to the constitution in 1999, which would have acknowledged that Indigenous Australians had inhabited the country “since time immemorial” and were “honored for their ancient and continuing cultures.”
Since the constitution took effect 122 years ago, Australians have now rejected 37 referendums. Only eight have been successful, with none since 1977.
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Source: Independent
