The vote in the referendum on 14th October was NO.
On 22nd October a group of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders, community members and organisations who supported Yes released an open letter to be circulated to the Australian public and media, The Statement for our Peoples and Country.
From the statement: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are in shock and are grieving the result. We feel acutely the repudiation of our peoples and the rejection of our efforts to pursue reconciliation in good faith. That people who came to our country in only the last 235 years would reject the recognition of this continent’s First Peoples – on our sacred land which we have cared for and nurtured for more than 65,000 years – is so appalling and mean-spirited as to be utterly unbelievable a week following. It will remain unbelievable and appalling for decades to come.
‘All Australians should read this statement from Indigenous leaders, regardless of how they voted’.
Simon Kneebone - cartoonist and illustrator 