Key events
Leading no campaigner Warren Mundine has spoken to the ABC. He is hoping for a no result in every state:
Well from day one I have felt we can do that. A lot of our team said ‘no, it’s not possible’. Then, to me it was just that we could. I always felt we could do it.
With five of the 8,253 polling places counted, almost 80% of the vote has been for no.
Josh Butler
Yes23 director Dean Parkin says “we will be back” regardless of the result tonight.
The Quandamooka man was on ABC24 just now, claiming Yes23 had turned out 80,000 volunteers – what he called the largest political campaign in Australia’s history.
Parkin was speaking just as polls closed in three states on the east coast, before any results had come in, but he was looking to the future.
I spoke to a volunteer this morning in Manly and I asked her if she had been out on the polls previously and she said no. S standing there today was the very first time she had worn the shirt and she was handing out the cards for the Yes campaign and I tapped her on the shoulder as I was leaving and said, ‘we will be back. And we will be tapping you on the shoulder at some point in history’,” he told the ABC.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander justice movement and reconciliation movement is a very resilient movement. We have had our setbacks in history, some very big setbacks in our history. It always returns and I am absolutely confident on this fact that it will return, regardless of how things pan out today.”
Parkin said whatever yes votes came in today, would “represent the creation of a base of support, by Australians from all walks of life in support of recognition, in support of a Voice.”
And I believe in the support of Indigenous progress more generally and that is something that we are absolutely proud of having been part of creating through this campaign,” he said.
Australia to provide an initial $10m for humanitarian assistance for civilians in Gaza
Just breaking in to the referendum coverage for a moment:
Australia is providing an initial $10 million in humanitarian assistance for civilians affected by the conflict in Gaza.
The government will provide $3m to the International Committee of the Red Cross to “fund urgent needs like restoring essential services and providing medical support to victims of the conflict” and another $7m through United Nations agencies, “to deliver critical support including emergency water, nutrition, sanitation and hygiene services, as well as child protection”.
Foreign minister Penny Wong said the government would continue to “monitor and assess” the humanitarian situation and “stands ready to provide further support”.
Wong:
We have seen devastating loss of innocent life since the heinous attacks on Israel by brutal terrorist group Hamas.
Far from representing the Palestinian people, Hamas undermines Palestinian needs and aspirations.
We continue to call for the unconditional release of all hostages. We stand with Israel and reiterate its right to defend itself.
President Biden has called on Israel to operate by the rules of war in its response to Hamas attacks – we join him and others in that call.
We call for safe and unimpeded humanitarian access to civilians affected by the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
We call for the establishment of a corridor to enable humanitarian needs to be met. And we support the work of the United States, Egypt and others towards this goal.
Adherence to international humanitarian law must be prioritised – including the protection of civilians, wherever they live.”
Votes are counted by AEC staff, with scrutineers from both sides. Scrutineers are people from the campaigns who watch the vote count and can raise questions about informal votes etc.
Postal votes have 13 days to come in, so there won’t be a final count for about two weeks – but there will be enough to call it.
AEDT polls close
It is 6pm in at least parts of Australia, meaning the polls in NSW, ACT, Victoria and Tasmania are closed and the count will begin.
You can follow along with the count here:
(And yes, I know there was an error where I accidentally wrote seven states instead of six –I amended it immediately, so if you are still seeing it, just refresh your browser.)
Dutton’s media presence – or lack thereof – since referendum announcement
It is also worth pointing out, as the AEDT polls almost close, that Peter Dutton has not held a single press conference with the Canberra press gallery since the date for the referendum was announced. There have been plenty of opportunities (parliament sitting) but going through his website, the last one was in June. Before that, the main Canberra press conference he held was in April.
Now that doesn’t mean he hasn’t done media – he has. But it has mostly been with friendly outlets, or in communities where the journalists are focused on their own patch – not what the opposition leader has been saying in the weeks or even days leading up to the visit to their campaign.
Will there be a legislated voice to parliament if the referendum vote fails?
There have been questions raised in the last few weeks, as it became obvious that the no vote was leaps and bounds ahead, what would happen: would the government legislate a voice to parliament (which would mean doing the thing the parliament was going to have to do if there was a yes vote anyway, just without the constitutional recognition)?
Anthony Albanese has said he will respect the outcome of the vote, which means that if there is a no vote, he would not seek to legislate a voice to the parliament.
Ironically, the Coalition had been in favour of legislating a voice to parliament, even while it was waging war against the constitutional referendum. It was one of the many elements of the Coalition talking points which were impossible to reconcile, no matter how many times they were factchecked.
Yes vote success will need majorities in four of six states as well as countrywide majority
Now, with the double majority needed, that means a win in the popular vote, as well as four of the six states.
Usually you get an indication very early on how that is all going. It is unlikely to be a long night in terms of count – you will most likely know the result quite quickly.
The polls, and the mood of the yes campaign, point to that result being a no.
Polls in eastern daylight-savings states to close first
Because of the time differences, there will be a few “polls close” calls.
The first ones will be those on Australian eastern daylight saving time – which will happen in just over 20 minutes (that’s NSW, ACT, Victoria and Tasmania).
South Australia is 30 minutes behind AEDT, while Queensland is an hour behind AEDT, the NT is one and a half hours behind AEDT and WA is three hours behind AEDT.
Hello and welcome to our evening coverage
Amy Remeikis
A very big thank you to Caitlin and the crew for keeping the blog ticking over on what has already been a huge day.
You have Amy Remeikis with you now until the end of the blog. Along with me, is Katharine Murphy, Josh Butler and Paul Karp. Mike Bowers is following the prime minister around, so you are all covered. We also have the Guardian brains trust at our disposal.
We will be covering the polls closing in a few different states, and updating you as soon as information comes to hand.
Ready? Let’s get into it.
Caitlin Cassidy
I’m off now, thank you for reading. The unparalleled Amy Remeikis will guide you through the vote tonight. Take care.
AEC says more than 30 polling venues sought in Melbourne CBD but none were available
The Australian Electoral Commission says it appreciates the disappointment from Victorians who have waited in long queues to vote at Docklands near Melbourne’s CBD however more than 30 venues were sought to no avail.
There will be eight million people through the doors today with options of where and when to go. Such systems will always have queues and people are being directed to multiple other close-by options with little wait time.
The spokesperson says the AEC sought CBD options and liaised with more than 30 venues but none had suitable availability.
We’ve put on extra ballot paper issuing points through the day at that venue with more than expected ‘out of area’ votes being cast there.
It is worth noting that there are 15 polling places within a 4km radius of [Docklands]. Some nearby venues include Southern Cross Educational Institute, a venue on Victoria Street in North Melbourne, South Melbourne Primary School, Melbourne Unitarian Church and others.
We ask for patience and for voters to plan their vote in a system held high in Australia’s consciousness.
AEC criticised for lack of voting booths in Melbourne CBD
The Australian Electoral Commission is facing criticism for failing to set up a polling booth in Melbourne’s CBD.
There are just three polling booths near the city at the Victorian College of the Arts, South Melbourne and Docklands.
Long lines for voting in parts of Melbourne while inner Sydney stations see few no campaigners
Here are some images of polling stations around the nation as Australia heads to its first referendum since 1999.
Lines have been backing up in the inner CBD Melbourne suburb of Docklands.
No signs have been few and far between in inner Sydney, with a high yes vote expected in the city and inner west.
