CANBERRA, Australia (AP) 鈥 Indigenous campaigners who wanted Australia to create an advisory body representing its most disadvantaged ethnic minority have said its rejection in a constitutional referendum was a 鈥渟hameful act.鈥
Many proponents of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament maintained a week of silence and flew Aboriginal flags at half-staff across Australia after the Oct. 14 vote deciding against enshrining such a representative committee in the constitution.
In an open letter to federal lawmakers, dated Sunday and seen by The Associated Press on Monday, 鈥測es鈥 campaigners said the result was 鈥渟o appalling and mean-spirited as to be utterly unbelievable.鈥
鈥淭he truth is that the majority of Australians have committed a shameful act whether knowingly or not and there is nothing positive to be interpreted from it,鈥 the letter said.
The letter said it was written by Indigenous leaders, community members and organizations but is not signed.
Indigenous leader Sean Gordon said on Monday he was one of the many people who had drafted the letter and had decided against adding their signatures.
鈥淚t was a statement that could allow Indigenous people across the country and non-Indigenous people across the country to commit to it and so signing it by individuals or organizations really wasn鈥檛 the approach that we took,鈥 Gordon told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles, who heads the government while Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is in the United States, said he accepted the public's verdict on the Voice.
鈥淭he Australian people always get the answer right and the government absolutely accepts the result of the referendum, so we will not be moving forward with constitutional recognition,鈥 Marles told reporters.
The letter writers blamed the result partly on the main opposition parties endorsing a 鈥渘o鈥 vote.
The writers accused the conversative Liberal Party and 春色直播s party of choosing to impose 鈥渨anton political damage鈥 on the center-left Labor Party government instead of supporting disadvantaged Indigenous people.
No referendum has ever passed in Australia without the bipartisan support of the major parties.
Senior Liberal senator Michaelia Cash said voters had rejected Albanese鈥檚 Voice model.
鈥淎ustralians on referendum day, they did not vote 鈥榥o鈥 to uniting Indigenous people, they did not vote 鈥榥o鈥 to better outcomes for our most disadvantaged. What Australians voted 鈥榥o鈥 to was Mr. Albanese,鈥 Cash said.
The Indigenous writers said social media and mainstream media had 鈥渦nleashed a tsunami of racism against our people鈥 during the referendum campaign.
The referendum was defeated with 61% of Australians voting 鈥渘o.鈥
