The referendum is over, the Voice rejected. Where to from here?

Some will be emboldened, others disheartened by the referendum's results. Where to now for the campaigns, and Indigenous justice?

Lidia Thorpe, Linda Burney and Jacinta Price all pursued different goals during the referendum. Here's what they say they'll do now it's over.

The Indigenous Voice to Parliament was soundly rejected by almost every jurisdiction across the continent over the weekend.

The proposal was the result of decades of campaigning for constitutional recognition, consultation amongst communities, and finally put to a vote in the referendum we've all lived through these past months.

But it remains one part of the Uluru Statement of the Heart, the tripartite request that arose from the First Nations dialogues of 2016-2017.

What becomes of the statement now, and where will the respective campaigns (Yes, No, and 'progressive no') put their energies going forward?

Silence, reflection and a change of heart

In a statement posted to the social media accounts of prominent Yes campaigners, a call was made for a week of silence following the constitutional amendment's defeat.

But it seems clear that there will be a change in the tenor of the discussion going forward.

Yiman Bidjara woman Professor Marcia Langton wrote a piece ahead of Saturday's vote declaring that, if the polls predicting defeat were vindicated, reconciliation 'would be dead'.

"This is a very sad moment in the country's history," she said on NITV's The Point program.

"Australians had an opportunity to recognise us in the Constitution and do so by allowing for an advisory body to the Parliament and the government

"With the majority of Australians voting no to that proposition, I think it will be at least two generations until Australians are capable of putting their colonial hatreds behind them."

ABC journalist Isabella Higgins also turned to the future of reconciliation in a TV appearance on Sunday, when the scale of the country's rejection had become clear.

"When we’re talking about reconciliation, we use kind language, we’re generous, we extend the hand of friendship, we invite people in to share our culture," the Torres Strait Islander woman said.

"This failing, this being rejected, so categorically by all Australians, it will change the way Indigenous Australians want to interact with the rest of the country."

A swelling of the sovereign ranks?

Higgins also discussed the possibility that the disillusionment amongst First Nations campaigners could lead to a boost for the Blak Sovereign Movement, of which Lidia Thorpe became a figurehead during the referendum.

Thorpe left the federal Greens, who formally supported the Voice, to become an independent and campaign against the proposal, which she argued was a threat to Indigenous sovereignty, and would be a powerless tool in the fight for First Nations justice.

In the wake of the Voice's rejection, she reiterated calls she made repeatedly throughout the campaign, for the full implementation of recommendations made by the Bringing them Home report and the royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody.

"Finally the dangerous distraction of the referendum is over and we can get back to the real fight," she said.

"Wake up, did the referendum not tell you we don't want some tokenistic gesture?

"We want real justice."

Senator Thorpe has been dealing with threats from far-right activists in the lead up to, and aftermath of, the referendum.

On Monday she was due to appear on the ABC's Q&A program, but declared she had to withdraw after receiving yet another threatening video.

Albanese silent on truth and treaty

In his victory speech on election night in May 2022, the prime minister opened by saying his government was committed to implementing the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full.

With the Voice rejected, attention has turned to the two other elements of the statement - Truth and Treaty.

However in Monday's parliamentary question time, the first following the referendum's defeat, Anthony Albanese would not be drawn on their future.

Asked whether the government would be pursuing Makaratta, the prime minister replied he was “committed to … respecting what Indigenous people have said”.

“And what they have said is that they are undertaking a week – which is reasonable for them – to deal with what many people would recognise is a 'difficult time' for Indigenous people.

"I think that should be respected.”

Instead, Albanese has placed emphasis on turning back to achieving greater results in the Closing the Gap measures.

There are, however, treaty processes underway in various jurisdictions around the country.

The most advanced of these are in South Australia and Queensland, which returned the highest no votes of all the states and territories.

Dutton walks back second referendum pledge

The opposition leader made several references during the campaign to a second referendum, one which split the request for constitutional recognition from the association with a Voice.

The idea for such a symbolic recognition originated with the Howard government in the dying days of his tenure.

This would likely take the form of a preamble to the constitution which noted the continent's First People's occupation of these lands before white colonisation.

However, almost immediately following the defeat of the referendum, Peter Dutton walked back that offer.

“Look, all of our policy … is going to be reviewed in the process [Coalition senators] Kerrynne [Liddle] and Jacinta [Price] will lead now," he said in response to a question on another referendum.

“I think that’s important, but I think it’s clear that the Australian public is probably over the referendum process for some time.”

Dutton instead proposed an audit of government spending on First Nations people, which has failed to find support in the senate.