'Voice' vote shows Australia has to rethink constitutional change

Country must still also find way forward for Indigenous people

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Indigenous women sit on a bench at a polling place in Sydney on Oct. 14: The referendum campaign had an energizing effect on Indigenous Australians around the country. © AP

Cheryl Saunders is a laureate professor emeritus and founding director of the Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies at the University of Melbourne's Melbourne Law School.

The reasons for the defeat of Australia's constitutional referendum on creating an Indigenous advisory "Voice" to the national government and Parliament last weekend are complex and cannot adequately be captured by accusations of racism alone, though they are part of the story.

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