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Indigenous leaders who campaigned for Voice to Parliament are calling for a week of silence across the country to mourn and reflect on the referendum result, after the nation voted against enshrining the consultative body in the constitution .
Key points:
Yes activists say this is “not the time to analyze the reasons for this tragic outcome”
In a statement, Yes campaigners called the result a “bitter irony”.
Leaders called on their community to gather “strength and determination”
In a statement released after the results were announced on Saturday evening, activists said they would no longer comment on the result.
“Now is not the time to analyze the reasons for this tragic outcome,” the statement said.
“This will be done in the weeks, years and decades to come.
“Now is the time to remain silent, grieve and think deeply about the consequences of this outcome.”
The essentials of the vocal referendum:
Leaders took the opportunity to thank Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for going ahead with the referendum, while calling the result a “bitter irony”.
“That people who have been on this continent for only 235 years refuse to recognize those who have called this land home for 60,000 years and more is beyond reason,” they said.
“These newcomers have never had the gift of denying recognition to the real owners of Australia.
“The referendum was an opportunity for new arrivals to show long-denied grace and gratitude and to recognize that the brutal dispossession of our people has destroyed every advantage of this country.”
While marking the period of mourning, the leaders called on their community to muster “strength and determination” and “come together in due time to carefully consider the way forward.”
“As we determine a new direction for justice and our rights, let us come together once again,” the statement said.
“We will not rest for long. Prepare the Uluru Declaration from the heart. Fly our flags low.
“Don’t talk about recognition and reconciliation. Only about justice and the rights of our people in our own country. Things that no one else can offer us, but to which we are entitled because this country is our country of birth and inheritance.”
Leaders paid tribute to the advocates who had campaigned for the Yes cause and to the diverse community members – from faith-based organizations to sporting organizations – who had lent their support to the cause.
“Our deep sorrow at this outcome in no way diminishes our pride and gratitude for the stand they had the moral courage to take in support of this now lost cause,” they said.
“We know we have them with us in the continued cause of justice and fairness in our own country.
“There will be a lot of questions about the role of racism and prejudice against indigenous people in this result.
“The only thing we ask is that every Australian who voted in this election thinks seriously about this issue.”