Thomas Mayo: How Voice Yes campaigner gave fiery speech to supporters moments before landslide No decision – and warned: ‘We’re not taking No for an answer!’

Yes, campaign leader Thomas Mayo has said he refuses to accept the no vote in the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum.

Despite the scale of the crushing election defeat, Mayo urged his supporters: “We will not take no for an answer.”

Mr Mayo was the controversial figurehead of the official Yes23 campaign which supported the constitutional amendment that would create the new advisory body.

He was one of the original signatories and architects of the Uluru Statement From The Heart in 2017, which sparked the referendum.

But his campaign failed miserably, losing millions of votes in the final few weeks before Saturday, with more than 60 percent of Australians rejecting the campaign.

The loss was so overwhelming that ABC’s Anthony Green was able to announce the results at 7:25 PM on Saturday, less than 90 minutes after polling booths closed on the East Coast.

Just before the loss was confirmed, Mayo took to the stage at the Yes23 vote counting headquarters at the Wests Ashfield Leagues Club in Sydney to deliver his defiant message to supporters.

“The campaign was never just about yes or no, two diametrically opposed words,” Mayo told activists on Saturday evening, a new video of the event revealed.

‘This was about us. This was about you. This was about the Australian people. This was about justice. And it doesn’t matter what happens tonight.

“If it’s a No answer, we don’t give up, we don’t take No for an answer, and we move on.”

Mayo then launched a campaign against the No campaign, accusing activists and opposition leader Peter Dutton of being “dishonest” and “lying to the Australian people”.

He added: “There must be repercussions for this kind of behavior in our democracy, they cannot get away with this.

“So if we succeed, let them know that they have done so. That they lied to the Australian people. That dishonesty must not be forgotten.’

The former wharf became a household name during the referendum campaign, working closely with Anthony Albanese’s government to promote a yes vote.

But comments from his past resurfaced, calling for “rent” to be paid to First Nations people, for the date of Australia Day to be changed and for reparations.

He later told Daily Mail Australia his views had changed as the referendum debate progressed.

Critics also questioned Mayo’s legacy. In an interview with the Betoota Advocate, he said he was shocked by the insinuations.

“It was quite shocking to see photos of your parents being shared saying we’re not really Indigenous,” he said.

His father is from the Torres Strait Islands. His great-great-grandfather arrived in the Torres Strait from the Philippines and married a local woman, while his maternal grandparents are English, Irish and Polish.

He was also accused of being a communist after speaking at a forum run by Search Foundation, which was once linked to the former Communist Party of Australia.

“I didn’t come from a family of activists or anything,” he said. ‘I have never been a member of the Communist Party.

He added: “You can put all these videos together and make people look scary.”

Once the outcome became clear, Yes campaigners promised a “week of silence”, adding in a statement: “We now know where we stand in… our own country.”

About 9.30pm a furious two-page statement was shared on social media by the NSW Aboriginal Land Council and the Central Land Council, promising a week of silence from Sunday, including a media blackout.

Both the Yes23 and Uluru Dialogue groups said they endorsed the statement.

It was read that the week will be used to “regret this outcome and reflect on its meaning and significance.”

“We will lower our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags at half-mast for the week of silence to recognize this achievement. We ask others to do the same,” the group said.

The group said they needed to ‘regain strength and determination’, look to the future and consider a new way forward.

“To our people we say: shed no tears,” the statement added. ‘This rejection was never up to others.

“The truth is that we offered this recognition and it was refused. We now know where we stand in our own country. Always been. Always will be.’

The group said the reasons for this “tragic outcome” will be “dissected in the weeks, years and decades to come.”

“Many questions will be asked about the role of racism and prejudice against Indigenous people in this outcome,” the statement said.

“All we ask is that every Australian who voted in this election thinks carefully about this issue.”

In Canberra, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called for unity in the aftermath of the defeat and said he accepted the outcome.

He said he took “responsibility” for the decision to hold the referendum, adding: “Tonight’s result is not the one I had hoped for.

“(But) I absolutely respect the decision of the Australian people and the democratic process that led to it.”