Next steps towards Voice Referendum

Today I introduce the Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Amendment Bill 2022.

This bill will advance the Prime Minister's commitment to hold a referendum to enshrine a First Nations voice in the Australian Constitution, a voice that will speak to the parliament and the executive about matters that affect First Nations people.

The Prime Minister has said the referendum will be held in the next financial year. This bill will modernise the legislation that will govern how this referendum will be conducted.

Alignment of machinery provisions

Referendums are an integral part of our democracy; however, the last referendum was held over 22 years ago.

Since that time, the Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Act 1984 (the referendum act) has not kept pace with changes to the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918(the Electoral Act).

The bill makes amendments to replicate current electoral machinery provisions into the referendum context to ensure the voting process and experience is similar to that of a federal election.

The bill also ensures that integrity and transparency measures that currently apply to federal elections will also apply to referendums.

Aligning funding and disclosure requ irements

This bill will establish a financial disclosure framework for referendums, to support transparency and accountability with respect to funding and expenditure. This bill replicates financial disclosure obligations in the Electoral Act, requiring those involved in referendum campaigning, referred to as 'referendum entities', to disclose how much they spend and receive on campaigning.

This is consistent with similar returns made by those involved in election campaigns and will allow voters to access information about the financing behind campaigns that seek to influence their voting decisions.

These obligations will only be triggered where a referendum entity spends over the 'disclosure threshold', which is set by reference to the Electoral Act. Linking the referendum act financial disclosure obligations to the Electoral Act disclosure thresholds ensures ongoing consistency between elections and referendums.

Donors will also be required to provide a return for any donations over the disclosure threshold. This is consistent with return obligations in the Electoral Act for donors to election campaigns.

Both referendum entity and donor returns must be provided to the Australian Electoral Commission 15 weeks after the referendum voting day and will be published on the commission's Transparency Register. This is consistent with time frames for election returns under the Electoral Act.

This bill also extends prohibitions on foreign donations in the Electoral Act to the referendum act, to prohibit foreign donations over $100 for referendum campaigning.

This will ensure only those with a meaningful connection to Australia are able to influence Australian referendums.

This bill also restricts foreign campaigners' ability to fundraise or incur referendum expenditure and authorise referendum material, again consistent with the Electoral Act.

Creating a financial disclosure framework for referendums supports the transparency and integrity of Australian democratic processes.

Further consideration of reforms to the funding and disclosure framework for Australian elections and referendums will be addressed as part of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matter's (JSCEM) inquiry into the 2022 federal election, which is due to report in September 2023.

Education on the Constitution and referendums

A decision to change our Constitution is a significant national event, and it has been more than two decades since a change has been proposed. It is therefore important that the government can fund civics education in relation to the upcoming referendum on the Voice.

To that end, the bill will temporarily suspend expenditure restrictions in section 11 of the referendum act to ensure the government can provide Australians with factual information about the referendum.

This information will provide voters with a good understanding of Australia's constitution, the referendum process, and factual information about the referendum proposal.

The government has no intention of funding 'yes' and 'no' campaigns.

When the pamphlet requirement was introduced in the early 20th century, it was an important way of ensuring that all voters were properly informed about why their elected representatives supported or opposed a referendum question.

As the next referendum will be the first in the digital age, there is no need for taxpayers to pay for a pamphlet to be sent to households. Modern technology allows parliamentarians to express their views to voters directly and regularly through a wide range of sources, such as television, email and social media, that did not exist when the pamphlet was introduced in 1912.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Australia's electoral system is one of which we can be proud. The effective functioning of our democratic system is thanks, in part, to the parliament's commitment to engage in regular reviews of our electoral system through the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters.

In this spirit, the Special Minister of State has written to the Chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters to ask that the committee inquire into this bill and report early in the new year.

I commend this bill.