Indigenous Australians call for ‘week of silence’ after referendum failure

Mourning, calls for truth-telling after Australians vote no in referendum to give Indigenous people greater political representation.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, left, and Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney looked visibly distressed after confirming the Voice referendum had failed [Lukas Coch/AAP via Reuters]

By Lyndal Rowlands
Published On 15 Oct 2023

Indigenous Australians have called for a “week of silence” and mourning after a referendum on giving them more political representation was rejected by the country’s white majority.

With more than 70 percent of ballots counted on Sunday, about 61 percent of Australians said “no” when asked if the country’s 1901 constitution should be changed to recognise the country’s original inhabitants. Less than 4 percent of Australia’s 26 million people are Indigenous.

Indigenous supporters of the Voice said it was “a bitter irony” that “people who have only been on this continent for 235 years would refuse to recognise those whose home this land has been for 60,000” years.

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