Member for Farrer Sussan Ley says she takes no joy in the failure of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum, acknowledging the outcome may be distressing for her Aboriginal constituents.
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The deputy federal Liberal Party leader had argued for a "no" vote and handed out pamphlets in support of that stance on Saturday as ballots were lodged at Albury polling stations.
"I take no joy in the national result, I think it illustrates a complete failure of leadership by the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese," Ms Ley said.
"I feel a lot of the community and a lot of Indigenous Australians have walked a long way, but the problem was the Prime Minister decided to sprint ahead and leave everybody behind.
"We could have had a referendum that all Australians agreed to, with recognition of Indigenous Australians in the constitution."
Ms Ley acknowledged that no referendum had succeeded without the backing of the two major political parties, but said bipartisan support meant there needed to be a broad public embrace and that did not exist.
"My electorate has voted, I think 75-25 for no, so it's a very strong message from the people of Farrer," she said.
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"I had expected it would be rejected by the community but I hadn't put much thought into what the figure would be."
Ms Ley said she "completely rejected" the argument the result showed Australians were racist, adding "unfortunately some have tried to make it that way, but that's not the community I represent, the people I know are caring and compassionate".
"I understand there will be strong emotions, even distress for the Indigenous community in my electorate and I want to assure them that my commitment to them, and their futures and what matters to them, is stronger than ever," she said.
Indi MP Helen Haines, an advocate for the Voice, said there obviously was a comprehensive vote against the Indigenous advisory panel which she accepted.
"I'm disappointed, I was very clearly supportive of a 'yes' case, but I think this is a vote for every individual, it wasn't a vote for a politician, and the people across Australia and Indi were not convinced we should change the constitution," Dr Haines said.
She added that without support from the Liberal and Labor parties it "makes it hard for Australia to vote yes" in referendums.
Dr Haines said she had spoken to Indigenous people in Indi since the outcome and they were "feeling very sad about the result".
"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," she said.
"The additional hardship and weight that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have carried over the past few months during this referendum campaign has taken such courage.
"I firmly believe that this referendum has not been successful but reconciliation is absolutely still on the table and I think Australians of goodwill want to change the gap in relation to health, education and justice."
Nationals MP for Nicholls Sam Birrell, who represents Yarrawonga residents who voted against the Voice, said "the campaign was unnecessarily divisive due to the refusal of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to strive for a bipartisan approach".
"This debate has been very difficult, and not always respectful of the premise that decent people from diverse backgrounds and races who want to see reconciliation can have different views on how to achieve it," Mr Birrell said.
Not one of the 79 booths in his electorate based in Shepparton, which has a significant Indigenous population, voted in favour of the change.
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