Sydney [Australia], October 15: Australia on Saturday rejected a proposal to recognise Indigenous people in the constitution, in a major setback to the country's efforts for reconciliation with its First Peoples.
Australian broadcaster ABC projected that three states - New South Wales, Tasmania and South Australia - would vote "No."
A successful referendum would require at least four of the six states to vote in favour, along with a national majority.
Within a few minutes of the projection, advocates for constitutional change conceded defeat.
With almost 70 percent of the vote counted, the "No" vote accounted for 60 percent of votes counted, while "Yes" accounted for 40 percent, ABC and other networks reported.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who had campaigned for a "Yes" vote in a campaign that revealed fault lines in Australian society on the issue, urged a divided nation to now come together in a "spirit of unity and healing."
He said defeat would be "very hard to bear" for the vast majority of Aboriginal Australians who had supported the motion.
"Tonight is the not the end of the road and is certainly not the end of our efforts to bring people together," Albanese said in a televised news address.
"From tomorrow we will continue to write the next chapter in that great Australian story. And we'll write it together. And reconciliation must be a part of that chapter," Albanese added.
Millions vote across country
Polls closed on Saturday evening across the country.
By the end of the referendum, almost 18 million people were expected to have cast their ballots as voting is compulsory in Australia.
The referendum asked them to vote "Yes" or "No" on whether to establish a new Indigenous advisory body - known as the Voice to Parliament - that would be consulted about laws affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
"There is nothing, no cost to Australians showing kindness, thinking with their heart, as well as their head when they enter the polling booth ... and voting 'yes'," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had said on Friday.
Referendums are difficult to pass in Australia as they require a majority of voters, as well as a majority of states, to succeed - although ultimately Saturday's results looked set to be less closely contested than expected earlier in the campaign.
Around 2 million postal votes will be counted for up to 13 days after the polls close on Saturday.
Indigenous people account for 3.8 percent of Australia's population.
Supporters of the Voice proposal believe enshrining an Indigenous advisory body in the constitution would help address some of the problems they face, including a lower life expectancy and a far higher incarceration rate.
The main campaign against the proposal has argued that the Voice would be divisive and that its powers have not been clearly defined.
Meanwhile, some Indigenous opponents argue that the proposal does not go far enough, and have demanded a treaty instead.
Aboriginal people have lived in Australia for at least 65,000 years and are considered one of the oldest living cultures in the world.
Source: Times of Oman