City voters favoured 'Yes', but 'No' support grew further out

Bass, which includes Launceston, its suburbs and towns in the north-east including Scottsdale, George Town, Exeter and Bridport, voted 'No' by 62 per cent to 38 per cent in Saturday's referendum.

The Voice proposal, which would have resulted in the creation of a non-binding advisory panel that could give advice on matters affecting Aboriginal Australians, was heavily defeated in every state and territory except the ACT.

But in Launceston, voters in the inner city took a different approach, reflecting patterns seen around Australia, where metropolitan, educated and prosperous voters tended to vote 'Yes'.

The suburbs that gave the most approval to the 'Yes' campaign were East Launceston (59 per cent), Central Launceston (58 per cent) and West Launceston (57 per cent).

The suburbs with the highest 'No' vote were St Leonards (71 per cent) Newnham (68 per cent) and Rocherlea (65 per cent).

In other areas of Bass, outside the limits of the City of Launceston, voters overwhelmingly opposed the Voice proposal.

Scottsdale (80 per cent) Winnaleah (79 per cent) Gladstone (75 per cent) and Beaconsfield (73 per cent) were the towns with among the highest 'No' votes in the electorate, and the state.

In George Town, voters rejected the question by 70 per cent to 30 per cent.

Bass MP Bridget Archer, who campaigned heavily for 'Yes' and was previously Mayor of George Town, has said she respected the decision of her constituents, but was disappointed with the result.

Political analyst at the University of Tasmania, Dr Richard Herr, said voters outside of the inner city were more persuaded by the 'No' campaign's argument that constitutional recognition and the Voice would have bestowed unintended special rights on Indigenous Australians.

"City dwellers tend to be more prosperous, better educated on the whole ... and there may have been a more generous view of how to repair relations with First Nations peoples," Dr Herr said.

"Whereas areas that were more suspicious of the presumed special treatment of Indigenous Australians ... saw this as a solution trying to find a problem."

But he said the divide was complicated, and went beyond wealth and education.

He said prosperous and educated voters tended to have a greater propensity for reform.

People more linked to the land saw a greater threat in the Voice proposal, Dr Herr said.

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