Australia rejects a proposal to include Aboriginal people in the constitution

COLOMBO (News 1st) - Australians have strongly opposed a proposal to include Aboriginal people in the country's constitution and to create a body to advise parliament on Indigenous matters.

Saturday’s (14) voice-to-parliament referendum failed, with the defeat clear shortly after polls closed.

To succeed, the yes campaign, which advocated for the right to vote, needed a double majority, which meant a majority of the national vote as well as majorities in four of Australia's six states.

More than 17 million Australians were enrolled for the compulsory vote, with many expats visiting embassies around the world in the weeks leading up to Saturday’s (14) poll.