By Grace Frost
The proposed Voice to Parliament was defeated on Saturday, as more than 54,000 people in the McEwen electorate joined the Australian majority to reject the proposition with a ‘no’ vote.
Australian Electoral Commission, AEC, data has revealed how votes in the McEwen region compared with the national average.
As of Sunday night, 90,046 votes from the McEwen region had been tallied, 829 of which could not be counted due to informal entry.
A total of 60.7 per cent voted ‘no’, while 39.3 per cent voted ‘yes’ – the results within a decimal place of matching the national result.
McEwen recorded the 11th highest ‘no’ vote of the 39 federal electorates in Victoria.
In McEwen’s neighbouring electorate, Nicholls, which includes Broadford and Seymour, voters were more united on their opposition of the Voice, recording the second-highest ‘no’ vote in Victoria at 76.1 per cent.
The 441 voters who correctly filled out their ballots at the Seymour Masonic Lodge most strongly opposed the Voice, with 78.5 per cent of them writing ‘no’.
But further south in Wallan and Kilmore, a smaller 64 per cent opposed the Voice to Parliament.
Other polling stations that received the highest proportion of ‘no’ votes include pre-poll votes at Wandong Public Hall, at 73.2 per cent, and Wandong Primary School, 68.7 per cent.
A total of 7843 voters elected to vote ahead of Saturday at Wandong’s pre-poll booth.
Sixteen polling places recorded a majority ‘yes’ vote, including at Woodend Primary School, 71 per cent and Macedon Primary School, 61 per cent.
Member for McEwen Rob Mitchell said he respected the ‘no’ decision despite it not being the outcome he had hoped for.
“In a free and open democratic society, you have wins and losses and at the end of the day the Australian people have had their say,” he said.
“We know our Indigenous people are hurting immensely and we will stand with them and use this to achieve better outcomes.”
Member for Nicholls Sam Birrell said the referendum should be seen as ‘a new beginning’, not the rejection of First Nations people.
“The recognition and advancement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities remains a shared goal,” he said.
“The cause of recognition is right and just, but the wording of the constitutional amendment was an overreach.
“Our representative democracy is based on the key principle of equality and Australians have rejected a constitutionally enshrined instrument of government based on race.”
Mr Birrell said he would continue to work with Indigenous communities in Nicholls to achieve better outcomes and economic empowerment.
“This debate has been very difficult and not always respectful of the premise that decent people from diverse backgrounds and races who want to see reconciliation can have different views on how to achieve it,” he said.
“Necessarily, given the tone of some of the national debate, there will be a period of reflection; wounds must be healed, and as Australians, we must forge a new path based on mutual respect and shared ambition.”
The Taungurung Land and Waters Council yesterday put its flags at half mast as part of the week of silence that Indigenous Australians called in response to the referendum outcome.
* Results included are as of October 15. Counting continues until October 27 to ensure all postal votes are received.
