Voice yes team to enjoy rent-free digs in the heart of Sydney courtesy of Sydney Council

While the campaigners against the planned Voice to Parliament referendum say they are operating from homes and garages, Sydney Mayor Clover Moore plans to give the Yes campaign free rental space.

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A plan to hand out $25,000 worth of plush city digs in Sydney’s CBD for the Yes Voice campaign team to operate out of for free has seen Sydney Lord Mayor slammed as “divisive”, with nothing set aside for the No team.

The Yes23 team will be given 137.5m of prime CBD functional office accommodation at Level 17 of Town Hall House on Kent St to operate their campaign for three months.

But No to the Voice campaigner Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price says the City of Sydney Council financial largesse to the Yes campaign is an “insult” to ratepayers and that she’s proud the No campaign is “run out of the lounge-rooms and sheds of ordinary Australians”.

At a City of Sydney Council committee meeting on Monday, a resolution to give the Yes campaign team the free city rental - worth $25,781 before GST - was passed, with Liberal councillor Shauna Jarrett abstaining.

The agreement will go to a full council meeting for approval next week, despite the background papers to the agreement stating the council’s chief executive has already entered into a “three-month licence agreement” with the Yes23 team, pending the final approval.

Clover Moore, Lord Mayor of Sydney pictured speaking at a YES Event at Town Hall, Sydney. Picture: Monique Harmer

The Yes team say the offices will only be used for a “small number of staff based on site”. The agreement has been dated from August 8 and will run until November 7.

The council says the space was due for refurbishment anyway and it had already approved funding in May to support the Voice case.

CLP Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price is opposed to the Voice plans to change the referendum. Picture: NCA NewsWire.

Ms Price said her campaign would never add to the heavy burden on Sydney ratepayers and that “Clover Moore should do something less divisive, like helping those Aussies struggling to pay their rates”.

She said most people working on the No campaign were working from their own homes.

“This insult to every Australian struggling to pay their bills will just pile more division onto an already divisive referendum,” she said.

“Days after we learn about Yes23’s Qantas corporate jet, we discover the City of Sydney is giving away ratepayers money.

Printing of the yes/no pamphlet for the Voice referendum is now underway at IVE printing in Sunshine, Victoria. The Australian Electoral Commission is advising that deliveries of the pamphlet will start arriving in mailboxes from late August. Picture: NCA NewsWire.

Former Cumberland City Council mayor Steve Christou has requested the Local Government minister step in to stop councils spending ratepayer money on the Yes case for the Voice. Picture: Toby Zerna

“This is a slap in the face to struggling Aussies choosing between paying their mortgages and buying milk.

“I’m proud to say that the No campaign is run out of the lounge-rooms and sheds of ordinary Aussies across the country.”

Outspoken western Sydney councillor and former mayor Steve Christou has written to NSW Local Government Minister Ron Hoenig requesting an intervention to stop “woke councils wasting ratepayer money”promoting the Voice campaign.

“In the current financial environment where residents are struggling to pay the mortgage, rent, bills and put food on the table to feed their children along with the increased council rate rises it is quite ironic and neglectful of their duties that some councils waste resident money on supporting the Voice campaign,” he said.

The charity behind the Yes to the Voice to Parliament, Australians for Indigenous Constitutional Recognition Ltd, had requested the City of Sydney council provide it with a short term rent free accommodation “from which to run the campaign”.

A Yes23 spokes man said they have held “discussions with the City of Sydney about the allocation of space, however no final decision has been made by the council”.

“If approved, it is envisaged this space would be used to assist with local field and volunteer activities, with a small number of staff being based on site,” he said.

In the official briefing notes about the move, council officers also warn about the potential for division over the decision.

“The City’s approach to communication and information sharing should take care that it doesn’t inadvertently foster division within the local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.”

Asked whether the No team would be given equal rent free digs, a City of Sydney spokesman responded the council had resolved to support the Yes vote through a program of information, awareness, communications, events and community support.

“Regardless of their position on the referendum, groups can apply to use our community venues following our usual process, which includes fee waivers for eligible groups,” he said.

Originally published as Voice yes team to enjoy rent-free digs in the heart of Sydney courtesy of Sydney Council