Australian PM Admits Defeat in Referendum on Indigenous Advisory Board

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Saturday that the result of the referendum on amendments to the Australian constitution establishing an advisory body of indigenous people in the parliament was not the one he had hoped for after the majority of people voted against the amendments.

Earlier in the day, the referendum on amendments to the constitution took place in Australia. The Australians were to answer the question worded as "A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognize the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. Do you approve this proposed alteration?" At least 50% of the votes in favor of the amendment were needed to adopt it, but the proposal failed to secure the majority of the votes, according to preliminary results provided by national broadcasters.

"My fellow Australians, at the outset, I want to say that while tonight’s result is not one that I had hoped for, I absolutely respect the decision of the Australian people," Albanese said.

The prime minister added that the vote would not divide Australians.

"We must take our country beyond this debate, without forgetting while we had it in the first place," Albanese also said.

In March, the Australian parliament passed the referendum bill. If most of citizens had voted in favor, an amendment would be made to the Australian constitution recognizing the voice of the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. Besides, an advisory body, called the Voice, consulting legislators on issues concerning indigenous population, would be created.