The further you get from Australia’s cities, the more clearly the country said No

Suburban Australians joined with voters from provincial centres and regional areas to deliver a resounding No vote in the referendum for a Voice to parliament.

As of 9pm AEDT, the referendum had failed to win a majority of the vote in any state with only people in the Australian Capital Territory backing Yes. At that time, the national No vote was on 58 per cent with almost half the ballots counted.

Within the nation’s most populous states, there was a clear divide between the inner city and suburbs of both Sydney and Melbourne. Some of the strongest results were in Sydney and Melbourne’s teal seats and the electorates of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Greens leader Adam Bandt.

On the western fringes of Sydney, the Liberal-held seat of Lindsay voted 66-34 against the Voice. In the city’s south-west, the Labor-held Macarthur was almost as emphatic, voting No 64-36.

But closer to the city, booths within Sydney’s inner west provided support of up to 90 per cent for a Yes vote.

New South Wales

Outside of Sydney, sprawling regional electorates such as New England (25-75), Parkes (22-78) and Riverina (28-72) all strongly said No.

Defying the trend, the Labor stronghold of Newcastle – which has a long history of supporting referendum proposals – had a 53-47 Yes vote.

Victoria

A similar story played out in Melbourne.

The booth of Carlton South voted 93 per cent Yes. But the further from the city centre, the lower the Yes vote.

The seat of Calwell, which takes in northern suburbs such as Broadmeadows, voted 57-43 against the proposal.

In the growing south-east seat of La Trobe, Yes went down 42-58.

Provincial centres such as Bendigo (44-56) and Ballarat (45-55) also rejected the proposal.

Further out, the Nationals-held seat of Mallee in the state’s north-west voted 21-79 against.

Tasmania

In the key state of Tasmania, which voted No, there were also differences.

Clark, centred on Hobart and which is held by independent Andrew Wilkie, backed Yes 60-40.

But the state’s northern seats of Bass and Braddon both voted No.

Queensland

Queensland’s inner-city electorates of Brisbane and Griffith showed moderate majorities for Yes.

But these were wiped away by big No votes in seats such as Maranoa (17-83), Kennedy (22-78) and Flynn (18-82).

With more than 1.5 million votes counted in Queensland at 9pm AEST, the No vote was on 65 per cent.

National seats of interest

While the referendum is dictated by national results, there are many seats of interest because of their representative or the regions they cover.

The electorate of Grayndler, held by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, defied the national trend and voted overwhelmingly Yes. More than 77 per cent of voters in the seat approved of the Voice to parliament with more than half the votes counted.

Sydney’s four teal seats also embraced the Voice, with Warringah held by Zali Steggall, Wentworth held by Allegra Spender, North Sydney, held by Kylea Tink, and Mackellar held by Sophie Scamps all returning a Yes vote with around half the votes counted.

In the southern NSW electorate of Farrer held by deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley, the No vote was 73 per cent.

In the NSW seat of Barton, held by Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney, the No vote was ahead 56-46. Earlier in the day, Burney and NSW Premier Chris Minns both voted at Carlton South Public School in her electorate.

Across Melbourne, the Yes vote has achieved some of its best results in key seats.

The seat of Melbourne, held by Greens leader Adam Bandt, had one of the strongest Yes results in the country, achieving 79 per cent of the vote.

Teal independents swept through the eastern suburbs of Melbourne at the last election.

In Kooyong, won by Monique Ryan from treasurer Josh Frydenberg, the Yes vote was ahead 63-37 while in nearby Goldstein, won by Zoe Daniel, Yes was ahead 61-39.

Labor deputy leader Richard Marles holds the seat of Corio which takes in much of Geelong and up toward the outer-suburbs of Melbourne. It was 51-49 in favour of No.

The national result was broadly in line with opinion polls taken before the referendum.

The Resolve Strategic survey published on Monday, October 9 showed 44 per cent of Australians supported the Voice, while 56 per cent were opposed.

Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.