Leaders from Indigenous communities in Australia on Sunday called for a week of silence and reflection after the decisive rejection of a referendum to recognize First Peoples in the country’s constitution.

The referendum asked Australians whether the constitution should be altered in order to recognize Aboriginal and Torres Strait people with an advisory body “Voice to Parliament”, that would have advised parliament on matters concerning the community.

More than 60 per cent of Australians voted “No” in the landmark referendum on Saturday.

In order for the referendum to pass, it needed a national majority and majorities in at least four states. All six states in Australia rejected the proposal.

“This is a bitter irony,” the Indigenous leaders said in a statement. “That people who have only been on this continent for 235 years would refuse to recognize those whose home this land has been for 60,000 and more years is beyond reason.”

They said that they would lower the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island flag to half-mast.

The outcome of the referendum is seen as a major setback for reconciliation efforts with the Indigenous people. Unlike other nations with similar histories, such as Canada and New Zealand, Australia has not formally recognized or reached a treaty with its First Peoples.

Reconciliation Australia, the lead body for reconciliation in Australia said in a statement, “While the results are devastating, they are not the first setback to the aspirations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.” It added, “This is a familiar story and one that has never deterred Indigenous Elders and leaders to be a voice for change. We pay homage to their courage and example. The fight for justice and the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will continue.”

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people constitute 3.8 percent of the 26 million population in Australia. The Indigenous communities have inhabited the country for about 60,000 years. But they don’t find mention in the constitution. And by several socio-economic measures, there are the country’s most disadvantaged people.

“It’s very clear that reconciliation is dead,” Marcia Langton, an architect of the Voice, said on NITV. “I think it will be at least two generations before Australians are capable of putting their colonial hatreds behind them and acknowledging that we exist.”

(Disclaimer: This news article was written by Mokokchung Times with inputs from agencies.)

130 thoughts on “Australia: Indigenous leaders call for reflection after failed referendum”
  1. I’m extremely impressed along with your writing abilities as
    well as with the layout in your weblog. Is
    this a paid topic or did you modify it your self? Anyway
    stay up the nice quality writing, it is rare to peer a nice blog like this one nowadays..

  2. I was extremely pleased to find this site. I wanted to thank
    you for your time for this wonderful read!! I definitely really liked every part
    of it and i also have you saved as a favorite to see new information in your site.

  3. Hi! I realize this is kind of off-topic however I had to ask.
    Does running a well-established blog like yours take a lot of
    work? I am completely new to operating a blog however I
    do write in my journal everyday. I’d like to start a blog so I will be able to share my personal experience
    and thoughts online. Please let me know if you have any
    kind of recommendations or tips for brand new aspiring blog owners.

    Appreciate it!

  4. Hello! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a collection of volunteers and starting a new
    initiative in a community in the same niche. Your
    blog provided us beneficial information to work on. You have done a extraordinary job!

  5. Somebody essentially assist to make seriously posts I might state.

    That is the very first time I frequented your web page and thus far?
    I surprised with the research you made to make this
    particular submit incredible. Excellent process!

  6. When I initially commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each
    time a comment is added I get three emails with the same comment.

    Is there any way you can remove me from that service? Thanks!

  7. I think everything wrote made a great deal of sense.

    But, what about this? what if you wrote a catchier post title?
    I am not suggesting your content isn’t good., however suppose you added
    something that grabbed a person’s attention? I mean Australia:
    Indigenous leaders call for reflection after failed referendum
    » MokokchungTimes.com is kinda vanilla. You might glance
    at Yahoo’s front page and watch how they create post headlines to get viewers to
    click. You might add a related video or a picture or two to
    grab readers interested about everything’ve got to say.
    In my opinion, it would bring your website a little bit more interesting.

  8. Hiya! I know this is kinda off topic however I’d figured I’d ask.
    Would you be interested in exchanging links or maybe guest writing a blog article or vice-versa?
    My blog covers a lot of the same subjects as yours and I feel we
    could greatly benefit from each other. If you’re interested feel free to send me an e-mail.
    I look forward to hearing from you! Awesome blog by the way!

  9. I’m extremely impressed along with your writing talents and also with
    the structure to your weblog. Is that this a paid topic or did you customize it yourself?
    Either way keep up the excellent high quality writing, it’s uncommon to see a
    nice weblog like this one these days..

  10. Do you mind if I quote a few of your articles as long as I provide
    credit and sources back to your webpage? My blog site is in the very same area of interest as yours and my visitors would certainly benefit from a lot of the information you provide here.
    Please let me know if this alright with you.
    Appreciate it!

  11. You really make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find
    this matter to be actually something that I think I would
    never understand. It seems too complicated and extremely broad for me.
    I am looking forward for your next post, I’ll try to get the hang of it!

  12. I’ve been surfing online more than three hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours.

    It’s pretty worth enough for me. Personally, if all site owners and bloggers made
    good content as you did, the net will be a lot more useful than ever before.

  13. I think this is among the so much vital info for me. And i’m satisfied reading your article.
    But wanna observation on few basic issues, The website style
    is perfect, the articles is truly excellent : D.
    Just right job, cheers

  14. Hello there! This is my first visit to your blog!
    We are a group of volunteers and starting a new project in a community in the same niche.
    Your blog provided us valuable information to work on. You have done a marvellous job!

  15. First of all I want to say fantastic blog! I had a quick question which I’d like to ask if you do not mind.

    I was curious to find out how you center yourself and clear your head prior to writing.
    I’ve had a hard time clearing my thoughts in getting my ideas out there.
    I do enjoy writing however it just seems
    like the first 10 to 15 minutes are generally lost simply just trying to figure out how to begin. Any suggestions or tips?
    Thank you!

  16. Hi! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a collection of volunteers
    and starting a new initiative in a community in the same niche.
    Your blog provided us beneficial information to work on. You have
    done a wonderful job!

  17. It’s genuinely very complicated in this busy life to listen news on Television, so I only use internet
    for that purpose, and get the most up-to-date information.

  18. I’ve learn some good stuff here. Certainly worth bookmarking for revisiting.
    I wonder how much attempt you set to create such a magnificent
    informative website.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *