Jacqui Lambie against funding Indigenous voice vote campaigns

Senate crossbencher Jacqui Lambie has warned against publicly funding the Yes and No cases for the voice referendum.

Senator Jacqui Lambie. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Senate crossbencher Jacqui Lambie – whose vote is critical when the Coalition opposes government legislation – has warned against publicly funding the Yes and No cases for the voice referendum, saying it could create campaigns “that are potentially biased, harmful and full of mis­information”.

Special Minister of State Don Farrell and his opposition counterpart Jane Hume remain locked in negotiations over the Coalition’s demands for Labor to create official Yes and No campaign entities and “adequately fund and resource” them with an equal amount of taxpayer money.

In a new report from the Joint Standing Committee of Electoral Matters, which reviewed the government’s Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Amendment Bill, the Coalition said the legislation should be opposed unless these changes and an official pamphlet – which the government has agreed to – were supported.

But Senator Lambie, who is still finalising her party’s position on the legislation, cautioned against public funding.

“Taxpayers’ money shouldn’t be used to fund campaigns that are potentially biased, harmful and full of misinformation. I think the public would prefer their money go to core issues like health and housing,” she told The Australian.

“(Fellow Jacqui Lambie Network senator) Tammy (Tyrrell) and I think the pamphlet is a good idea, and that will hopefully give people the information they need to make their decision. Whether or not the government decides to fund Yes and No campaigns, we’ll look at the referendum machinery bill as a whole,” she said.

The Liberal Party on Monday accused the government of trying to “rig” the referendum by refusing to provide public funding for the Yes and No cases.

“Any kind of trickery or rigging the system and effectively trying to advantage one side of the debate over the other will only increase scepticism amongst the people of this country and … contribute to the defeat of whatever proposition is put to them,” South Australian Liberal MP James Stevens told the house when the JSCEM report was tabled.

“The people will react quite strongly against that change and it will dramatically doom future attempts to change the Constitution that may or may not have credibility because the politicians have rigged the system against it.”

Without the Coalition’s support, the government must win over the Greens and at least two other crossbenchers to push its legislation through the Senate.

The Greens have made clear public funding is not an issue for the party.

The majority report of the committee, which is chaired by the government, made just two recommendations, including to support the Australian Electoral Commission to lift enrolment and participation, particularly in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

It also recommended “appropriate structures and mechanisms are put in place” to ensure “clear, factual and impartial information is made accessible to all voters as part of the referendum process”.