Australia rejects historic aboriginal referendum after bitter campaign splits the nation

SYDNEY – Australian voters on Saturday resoundingly

rejected a historic referendum on aboriginal rights

in a move that risks damaging the country’s international reputation and marked a personal, though not necessarily political, blow for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

In a rare effort to change the 122-year-old Constitution, Mr Albanese proposed to formally recognise Australia’s indigenous people and to create a body – the Voice – that would allow aboriginal people to provide advice to the government on issues that affect them.