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Australian government to look for new ways to lift indigenous living standards after referendum loss
A man waits as a woman drops her ballot into a box at a polling place in Redfern as Australians cast their final votes in Sydney, October 14, 2023, in their first referendum in a generation that aims to tackle Indigenous disadvantage by enshrining in the constitution a new advocacy committee

AUSTRALIA will look for new ways to lift indigenous living standards after voters rejected a proposal to create a new advocacy committee, the deputy prime minister said today.

Every state and mainland territory apart from the Australian Capital Territory of Canberra voted against a proposal to enshrine in the constitution an “indigenous voice to parliament” to advocate on behalf of the nation’s most disadvantaged ethnic minority.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said his government remained committed to improving indigenous welfare to close the eight-year gap in average life expectancies between indigenous Australians and the wider community.

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