The referendum question was set to fail on both critical counts: it has no chance to win a national majority, and could fail in every state. The proposed preamble was also decisively rejected. The head of Australians for a Constitutional Monarchy, Mrs Kerry Jones, broke out the champagne at 8.07pm, effectively declaring victory. Republican and federal opposition frontbencher, Mr Robert McClelland, conceded at 7.30pm that the yes case was lost. Victoria appeared the only state with a chance of embracing the republic, although country Victorians joined their bush cousins across the nation to overwhelmingly turn their backs on it.

With three-quarters of the vote --counted in Victoria, the yes vote was 49.9 per cent, and the no vote was 50.1 per cent. How Australia voted. First published in The Age on November 7, 1999. Credit:The Age Archives The city-country divide was stark. The electorate of Melbourne recorded the highest yes vote in the nation: with half the vote counted, 71 per cent of inner-city electors had voted yes. But every country electorate in Victoria voted against the republic, with some no votes as high as 72 per cent (in the Mallee). And the further an electorate was from the Melbourne GPO, the more likely it was to vote no. The republic failed in New South Wales; with 78 per cent of the vote counted, the yes vote was hovering just on 46.5 per cent. Tasmania voted solidly against the republic. With 80 per cent of the small state's vote counted, 60 per cent of electors had voted no.

In South Australia, the republic was doomed: with most the state's vote counted, the yes vote was 43.5 per cent. Early figures from Queensland showed the no vote well ahead, with more than 70 per cent of Queenslanders opting for the status quo. Western Australia's polling stations were still to close at time of going to press. Bob Hawke and Malcolm Turnbull at the Republic party at the Marriot Hotel in Sydney digest the results. Credit:Steve Lunam While the Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, got his wish to continue running a constitutional monarchy, the nation decisively voted down the preamble he wanted to add to the Constitution.

The preamble was being trounced in every state and was also rejected in the ACT, which was the strongest republican enclave in the nation with a yes vote of about 63 per cent. Republicans gathered at Sydney's Marriott Hotel, including author Tom Kenneally, art critic Robert Hughes and actor Bryan Brown — who had little to celebrate — cheered when results indicated Mr Howard's preamble was set to fail. "That wonderful piece of poetry looks like it is going to go down," yes-campaign director Mr Greg Barns said. Former Prime Minister Bob Hawke said it was clear that a majority of Australians wanted a republic but there was confusion about the model. He warned Mr Howard that even if the no vote succeeded the majority of Australians still wanted a republic. Mr Hughes said a republic was inevitable and attributed part of the blame for the referendum defeat to the Prime Minister.

Ron Tandberg cartoon, first published in The Age in 1999. Credit:Ron Tandberg "He is a retrograde man and (the defeat of the yes case) is not going to work in the long run," he said. But the campaign director for Australians for a Constitutional Monarchy, Mr David Elliott, said a double majority for the no vote would herald a new role for his organisation. "If we get that result, then we will be maintaining the rage and making a concerted effort to educate all Australians on the fundamental stabilities that a constitutional monarchy gives to our Constitution. "The early votes shows that we won the working class and that justifies our raw campaign tactics, in raw political terms it makes what looks like a victory all the sweeter.”

Queensland National Party Senator Ron Boswell said: "It appears the ALP has disconnected with its traditional blue-collar voters yet again, and it's picked up the yuppies." Mr Barns said the no campaign, particularly in Tasmania, had been the most deceitful he had seen. Historically, referendums in Australia have had less than one chance in five of success — and none had succeeded without the support of the incumbent government and prime minister. Australia's Constitution can be changed only with a "double majority" — the approval of a majority of voters, in a majority of states — and that approval has been given sparingly. Since the states united to form the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901, 42 referendum questions have been put to the people and all but eight have been rejected. Five of the 34 unsuccessful questions won a majority of votes but failed to win a majority of states.

Goma Currey celebrates at the No vote's official function at the Darling Harbor Convention Centre in Sydney. Credit:Danielle Smith In the past generation, 16 questions have been put at referendums and only three have succeeded in winning the double majority. Two others won a majority of votes, but failed to win a majority of states. The last time a referendum succeeded in changing the Constitution was in 1977, when the Fraser government managed to get three relatively minor reforms passed on a single day: requiring Senate vacancies to be filled by a nominee of the same party, allowing residents of the territories to vote in referendums, and setting a retirement age of 70 for federal judges. The last referendums were held in 1988, when the Hawke government was unsuccessful in four referendum questions following a negative campaign led by the then shadow Attorney-General, Mr Peter Reith. These included setting a four-year term for Federal Parliament, recognising local government in the Constitution, and enshrining fundamental rights such as trial by jury in the Constitution. All of them failed to win a majority in any state.