Barker constituents comprehensively rejected Saturday’s Voice to Parliament referendum, registering one of South Australia’s highest No votes.
Within an hour of the first polls closing on Saturday night national commentators had declared the referendum proposal had been soundly defeated, with the eastern states showing a strong No return before the 6pm SA poll closure.
Nationally the referendum result sat at 39.4% for Yes and 60.5% No, while in SA the result was 35.4% Yes and 64.5% No.
However in Barker, more than three in four people voted against the proposal, with the totals sitting at 22.4% for Yes, compared with 77.6% for No.
Only one polling place in the Limestone Coast registered a Yes vote, with Naracoorte’s main booth receiving 752 Yes votes, compared with 214 No.
Mount Gambier’s pre polling centre had more than 13,000 votes lodged in the lead up to Saturday, with 2523 registering Yes and 10,869 No, resulting in an 18% Yes vote.
In Western Flat only 6% of people voted Yes, while in Kongorong it was 10%, and the number was not much higher in Carpenter Rocks, Mount Burr and Kingston with 14% of people registering a Yes return, with 20% in Compton and Millicent, 19% in Glencoe, 17% in Kalangadoo and 18% in Port MacDonnell, Tantanoola and Southend.
The result was met with sadness by ac.care chief executive Shane Maddocks, after the charity had campaigned locally for the Yes vote.
“While the invitation from many First Nations people through the Uluru Statement from the Heart to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Constitution through a Voice to Parliament was not accepted by the majority of Australians, we must all now reflect and then move forward respectfully together,” Mr Maddocks said.
“Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples will be hurting from the outcome of the referendum – our hearts and thoughts are with them.
“There will need to be some time for healing, but then we must work together to find new ways to address the disadvantages that continue for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people today and maintain focus on important issues that have arisen around the referendum debate.”
Mr Maddocks called on governments to do more to “listen to and work with First Nations people to help address deeply complex issues”.
“New conversations will need to be had with open hearts, minds and ears to listen to the wisdom of our First Nations people and contribute to self-determination for a better future,” he said.
“ac.care will be exploring new opportunities to increase our understanding, listen to truth telling and work in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to address the impact of generations of dispossession and ongoing social injustice and discrimination faced by First Nations peoples today.
“The invitation of the Uluru Statement from The Heart is still open and we will continue to consider how its vision can be implemented.”
No campaigner Member for Barker Tony Pasin said Australians had voted overwhelmingly against the Prime Minister’s proposal to amend the constitution to establish a Voice to Parliament.
“I acknowledge this definitive result but I’m disappointed that our nation has been subjected to and divided by this process,” he said.
“For decades we have enjoyed constructive, open dialogue on matters of indigenous recognition.
“Our country was united in the desire to see our First Nations people recognised in the constitution and for better outcomes for remote indigenous Australians.
“The Prime Minister could have chosen to continue on this constructive path when Labor came to government last year. At no point did the Labor Government attempt to seek bipartisan support for their Voice proposal.
“The Prime Minister refused to convene a Constitutional Convention as is the normal process. He refused to listen to concerns raised by the Coalition or anyone else with an opposing view. At no point were the Australian people given the details of the proposal, nor were we told how it would make a difference to Aboriginal Australians and failure to do so is reflected in the results.”
Mr Pasin said it was time to work “constructively to ensure, lasting and meaningful improvements are made for our most disadvantaged Australians”.
“It’s time for leadership to bring the nation together, united in this cause and the path to reconciliation,” he said.
“At the same time, we must address the cost of living crisis affecting all Australians that has been left to escalate while the Prime Minister has been focused on his poorly executed divisive referendum.”
Local Liberal MLC Ben Hood, who also campaigned for the No vote, said the nation’s leaders needed to move forward.
“Now that Australians have had their say and definitively rejected the proposal to insert a Voice to Parliament in our Constitution, the focus must shift to addressing the crux of the concerns shared by both sides of the debate – overcoming the disadvantage faced by many in our Aboriginal communities,” he said.
“With almost 65% voting No across South Australia at the time of writing this – and more than 77% rejecting it in the federal electorate of Barker – the federal government must go back to the drawing board to offer a practical and detailed plan to address issues of Indigenous disadvantage.
“There are solutions already on the table to help achieve this. One is to undertake a comprehensive audit of existing Aboriginal service agencies to establish the true level of inefficiency among the tens of billion of dollars of taxpayers’ money allocated to various causes.
“This information will be crucial to ensuring there is accountability when allocating such vast sums of our tax dollars that have so far made only piecemeal progress on closing the gap over many years.
“Another practical and positive solution is to heed the call of those in Alice Springs and beyond for a Royal Commission into child sexual abuse in Indigenous communities.
“Tackling these real and ongoing issues that have been raised with successive governments over many years and is something the federal government can do without dividing our democracy along the lines of race via a ill-conceived referendum or a constitutionally enshrined ‘Voice’.
“The voices are out there, and should the federal government choose to listen, practical action to tackle Aboriginal disadvantage could be made today.”
