A majority of locals have voted 'no' to supporting an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice to parliament in Saturday's referendum.
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In the first referendum since 1999, voters were asked whether or not they would support a change to the Constitution to establish The Voice.
'No' votes dominated every polling booth in Forbes and Eugowra, with the data published on the Australian Electoral Commission's tally room.
In total, there were 1083 Yes votes (19 per cent) and 4548 No votes (just shy of 80 per cent) in the Forbes shire. There were 58 informal votes.
In the Riverina electorate more broadly, the Yes campaign drew 24.26 per cent of votes, the AEC data says, and the No campaign 75.74 per cent.
The result is not for celebrating, said Member for Riverina Michael McCormack in a statement, rather a "springboard" to develop effective policies which will make a tangible difference for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who need it most.
"We all want to achieve better results for our most vulnerable people, regardless of their ethnicity or heritage," Mr McCormack said.
"Our focus is on practical action, driven by local communities.
"A non-partisan approach is essential to ensure the best outcomes.
"The Voice proposal was not the solution and the majority of Australians saw it this way.
"Bureaucrats need to get out of the Canberra bubble and go out to communities to listen to Elders who can offer unique solutions for their individual communities.
"We need to take notice the many success stories among our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and deliver positive policies to build on things that actually work.
"We must prioritise the practical action that gets children to school, adults into work, and communities safe - exactly what we want for the rest of the country being true for Indigenous Australians, too, wherever they may live.
"Over the coming weeks and months, The Nationals as part of the Coalition will be working with other concerned Australians on a new approach to tackling Indigenous disadvantage that will form part of the Coalition's platform at the next election."
Three hundred and eight six votes were lodged in Eugowra with 307 for the No case and 76 for the Yes case. The remaining three votes were deemed informal.
Member for Calare, Andrew Gee, told the Central Western Daily that despite the results, he 'stands by' his choice to support a voice to parliament.
"In our democracy we all get to make an individual choice. I stand by mine and I respect others making and standing by theirs," Mr Gee said.
"I've had many people, who voted either way, stop me in the street and at polling booths to say how glad they are that their local member doesn't just tow a party line and do what he's told by the party puppeteers and their machine," he said.
