Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney have fronted the media in an emotional address after the referendum failed.
The pair acknowledged the loss, accepting the outcome. They pushed the need to grieve but said tomorrow they'll continue on the path of reconciliation.
"For many today is a day of sadness, this result is not what we hoped for," said Burney.
We accept the decision of the Australian people.
The Wiradjuri woman spoke about Aunty Gloria and her non-Indigenous husband Clive, both in their 90s and married at a time when their "union was not accepted".
"Gloria and Clive voted yes in this referendum because they wanted to see a better future for their children and their grandchildren.
"Gloria and Clive won't give up on a better future and neither will we."
Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney delivers a statement on the outcome of the Voice Referendum at Parliament House. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas/AAP Image
"I know the last few months have been tough. But, be proud of who you are, be proud of your identity, be proud of the 65,000 years of history and culture that you are part of. And your rightful place in this country, we will carry on and we will move forward and we will thrive.
"This is not the end of reconciliation."
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese consoles Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney after delivering a statement on the outcome of the Voice Referendum at Parliament House. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas/AAP Image
Albanese said tonight Australia will meet the result with "humility and grace" and tomorrow we must seek a "new way forward" with optimism.
"I never imagined or indeed said it would be easy, very few things in public life worth doing are," he said.
"What I could promise is that we would go all in, we would try and we did."
Albanese pushed unity, renewing his offer of cooperation with the coalition.
"This moment to of disagreement does not divide us," he said.
He said he was proud of the government for putting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander disadvantage at the centre.
Albanese acknowledged First Nations advocates, who have become friends and gave a special mention to Ms Burney.
"I have made lifetime friends, and for that I am grateful," he said.
"Constitution change may not have happened tonight, but change has happened in our great nation. Respect and recognition is given at events, the fullness of our history has begun to be told, maintain your hope and know that you are loved.
"Tonight is not the end of the road."
Coalition say referendum failure 'good for our country'
Peter Dutton described the failed referendum as "good for our country" and was "pleased with the outcome".
He said he believed it to have been a "bad idea, to divide Australia based on their heritage".
He accused the Prime Minister of not being "across the detail" and said he "refused to answer questions".
Dutton also used his address to renew calls for a Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse and began a new call for an audit into Indigenous spending.
He also advocated for increased policing, and a focus on domestic and family violence.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians Senator Jacinta Price address the media during a press conference. Source: AAP / Jono Searle/AAP Image
She also accused the Prime Minister of failing to "provide details".
"[It's] a shame we have been accused of misleading this country through misinformation, disinformation. When their campaign had no information whatsoever."
Senator Price pushed the notion of unity and patriotism.
"We are one of the, if not the greatest nation, on this earth."
Appearing on NITV's The Point referendum special, Professor Marcia Langton said the referendum defeat is a "very sad moment".
"This is a very sad moment in the country's history," she said.
"Australians had an opportunity to recognise us in the Constitution and do so by allowing for an advisory body to the Parliament and the government
"With the majority of Australians voting no to that proposition, I think it will be at least two generations until Australians are capable of putting their colonial hatreds behind them."
Fellow panellist and former Parliamentarian and Olympian, Nova Peris said the news was "gut-wrenching".
"This country is almost like it fears change and it's not even about change. It's about the truth, and it's about something that should have happened 122 years ago," she said.
"It's gut-wrenching, it makes me sick and it's a really sad indictment.
"As an educated Aboriginal person who's travelled the world through my sports and education, we can wake up and I have a life, that I can have a life. But the disadvantage of our people, the suffering of our people in 2023, it is disgusting."
No campaign say there are 'no celebrations'
Dialling in from Meanjin, Brisbane, Lead No Campaigner Warren Mundine said there would be "no celebrations" in the No camp tonight.
"The reality is the Australian public has told us they don't want a voice, they want the government to get out there and do the job that actually needs to be done."
Mr Mundine said he knew of "Australians who wanted to vote yes but couldn't" because "no one gave them details".
He said the Voice was presented as a "magic wand".
The Point presenter, Narelda Jacobs pushed back, saying Professor Langton had co-authored the Langton-Calma report which presented much of the details people wanted.
"She racially abused Australian people, and she racially abused this country. That's what she did, she called Australians racists," Mr Mundine replied.
"She called Australia a racist country. She has no credibility in this.
"I'm not going to take comment from any person that thinks that we are a racist country and that we are racist people."
Professor Langton accused Mundine of a "Trumpian play" creating "racial division by lying and then accusing me of being a provoker".
"Lies. I have the video, I have everything that you have said. I'm not going to sit here and cop lies," Mr Mundine responded.
Professor Marcia Langton AO at her National Press Club in Canberra, Wednesday, September 6, 2023. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch/AAP Image
"That is not what I said, what I said was that the messaging of the No campaign is based in some racialist assumptions," Langton said.
"I was asking people to think deeply about the racist underpinnings of the No campaigns messaging."
When questioned on racism in the No campaign, Mundine said there wasn't "one comment from the main No campaign about racism".
He said the Australian people "want things fixed" as does the No camp. He then announced the campaign's calls for an audit.
"That is why we are calling for an audit, to see where the money is being spent, to get outcomes delivered," he said.
