Indigenous Australians have called for a “week of silence” and mourning after a referendum on giving them more political representation was rejected by the country’s white majority.
With more than 70 percent of ballots counted on Sunday, about 61 percent of Australians said “no” when asked if the country’s 1901 constitution should be changed to recognize the country’s original inhabitants. Less than 4 percent of Australia’s 26 million people are Indigenous.
By voting no, Australians also voted against creating a new consultative body—a “Voice” to Parliament—that could have had a say on issues related to Indigenous affairs in Australia.
Indigenous supporters of the Voice said it was “a bitter irony” 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” years.
For many Indigenous people, the election was a source of additional distress.
The National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organization—an Indigenous-run health organization—shared information on mental health resources for people experiencing “increased anxiety and depression” in the wake of the “no” vote.
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