Campaigns but no cash: State governments will not spend taxpayer dollars on the Voice

Labor governments around the country have responded to whether they will use taxpayer dollars to provide funding for either the Yes campaign in the lead up to the Voice referendum. Find out what they said here.

Labor’s star new premiers will not use taxpayer dollars to fund the Commonwealth’s pitch for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament but have vowed to sincerely campaign for the party’s cause.

The newest Labor premiers, NSW leader Chris Minns, South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas and Western Australian premier Roger Cook, have all ruled out extending their support to specific funding for the Yes or No cases or for neutral awareness campaigns.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal that so far all Labor states except for Victoria currently have no intentions of adding taxpayer cash behind their support.

While the Commonwealth is prohibited from spending government money to support either side of the campaigns under the Voice legislation — the rules do not extend to state governments.

The NSW government will not commit specific funding for the Voice. Picture: Jeremy Piper

A spokesman for Mr Minns said the government would “encourage everyone to vote ‘Yes’ in the upcoming referendum” and “fully supports the Voice to parliament” but will not commit “specific funding”.

“The Voice Referendum is an opportunity to bring our country together to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Constitution and create a body merging Indigenous wisdom with our democratic traditions,” the spokesman said.

“The NSW Government will not commit specific funding commitment to either the Yes or No campaigns.”

It’s understood that NSW ministers would be open to attending Yes campaign events in conjunction with their usual duties but the government is not planning to fund its own events or ads.

WA — understood to be a tricky state for the Yes camp — was most vocal in refusing to stump up cash for either side of the debate — calling it inappropriate.

Both SA and NSW Premiers will campaign on the Voice but taxpayer cash is not a part of the deal. Picture: Damian Shaw

“The State Government will be supporting the referendum process and the Premier will play a role in the Yes campaign as the vote draws closer,” a spokesman said.

“It would not be appropriate for the WA Government to donate taxpayer funds to either side of the campaign, particularly when there is already significant private funding to the campaigns.“

South Australian Premier Mr Malinauskas, considered by many to be a more vocal supporter of the Voice, also ruled out any state-funded advertising campaign.

The Victorian government did not rule out funding for the Voice. Picture: Ian Currie

“(We) won’t be allocating taxpayers’ money towards advertising support for the Federal Voice to parliament,” a spokesman said.

“The Premier and Ministers will be supporting the campaign in the lead up to the referendum, as well as continuing to work towards implementing the state-based Voice to parliament.”

Victoria remained the only state that did not clearly rule out cash support for the Yes camp while Queensland said no requests for funding had been made.

It’s understood Victoria is currently finalising how they will support the Yes vote.

The referendum is due to be held between October and December this year but no date has been finalised yet.