Indi and Strathbogie Shire say No in historic referendum

By DARREN CHAITMAN & STEVE KELLY INDI voters have given a resounding No to altering the Constitution to establish an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. Voters were massively against the notion with just 32.2 per cent Yes and 67.8 per cent writing No on their ballot papers, as of Monday afternoon, with postal votes still being counted. However, on Referendum Day polling places in Beechworth, Bright, Harrietville, Mount Beauty, Stanley and Yackandandah all had a majority Yes vote. Out of the 39 Victorian federal electorates, Indi had the fifth highest percentage No vote, behind Mallee at 78.41pc, Nicholls at 76.19pc, Gippsland at 73.06pc and Wannon at 68.78pc. Closer to home, every polling station in the Strathbogie Shire recorded majority No votes. Of the 1510 who voted at St John’s Primary School in Euroa, 1075 (71.1pc) voted No and 435 (28.81pc) voted Yes. This was the second highest No vote count in the shire, with Nagambie delivering the strongest No in the area at 78.82pc, with just 21.18pc of voters writing Yes. The highest Yes vote count in the shire came from the smallest polling station, Ruffy, although No still had the majority at 56.69pc while Yes trailed at 43.31pc. Other polling stations in the shire included Violet Town (62.41pc No), Longwood (68.04pc No) and Avenel (64.3pc No). The shire’s No vote count was well above the state-wide average, with Victoria the highest proportional Yes vote in Australia compared to other states at 45.17pc Yes and a 54.83pc No (at the time of going to press). The highest proportions of Yes voters in the Victoria were from Kooyong (59.89pc), Higgins (60.28pc), Wills (64.26pc), McNamara (65.01pc), Cooper (65.64pc) and Melbourne (78.04pc). Independent MP for Indi Helen Haines – who had supported the Yes campaign – said change is hard and changing our constitution is exceptionally hard. "On Saturday, Australians including voters in Indi, comprehensively voted No to recognition in our constitution of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples through a Voice to Parliament," Dr Haines said. "While I am disappointed in the outcome, I am grateful that we have a democracy that allows every one of us to have our say. "I sincerely thank First Nations Australians here in Indi who have opened their hearts, shared their stories and views with me, who have spoken at information sessions, and so much more." Euroa’s Kate Auty was one member of a dedicated group who campaigned for the Yes vote in the local area, including at the Sheila Gallery shopfront which was decorated in support for Yes. “The North East community got together to support the Yes campaign, worked very hard to do so, letterboxed, telephoned, conducted polling booth staffing events, and met regularly to talk about how to communicate the message to the public,” she said. “It's really unfortunate that in our country we don't have legislation that makes it an offence to publish lies and misinformation, and we should have that legislation – it's good to see that Zali Stegall has introduced it to the Federal Parliament last year. “I’ve got a lot of Aboriginal friends today who are deeply, deeply distressed by what happened, and that is people who are both young and old.” Gregory Carlson, who served as a mayor and councillor in the shire during the 90s and early 2000s, confirmed he had voted No. “The opinion polls appear to have been correct, and the obvious thing from all this is that there is a genuine divergence of opinion between those who live in the capital cities and large urban areas in Australia, and those who do not,” he said. “And that’s unfortunate, but that’s the reality. “I’m glad that it’s over, put it that way.”