With a two-letter word, Australians have struck down the first attempt at constitutional change in 24 years, major media outlets reported, a move experts say will inflict lasting damage on First Nations people and suspend any hopes of modernizing the nation’s founding document.
Early results from the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) suggested that most of the country’s 17.6 million registered voters had written No on their ballots, and CNN affiliates 9 News, Sky News and SBS all projected no path forward for the Yes campaign.
The proposal, to recognize Indigenous people in the constitution and create an Indigenous body to advise government on policies that affect them, needed a majority nationally and in four of six states to pass.
No, the European press stated that it was around that number, so no propaganda.
If this was really such a great thing for them, they would vote 90+% in favor and the battle would have been to get the rest of the country over 50%.
For example, New Caledonia voted 96% to remain part of France.
That's much better as referenda between an ex-colonial power and indigenous populations go.
Seems to me like some better solution must be found that can find a majority support among all Australians and a level of unanimity among indigenous Australians.