Cory Bernardi (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I must say, I am quite surprised to be speaking on Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Amendment Bill 2013 this morning. Not because I do not want to speak on it, but because the government has rushed this in with very little notice in order, I believe, to create a further magnificent distraction from their overwhelming failings and to hide those from the Australian people. The essence of this magnificent distraction is going to be built forward towards the next election when the government has mooted that they will hold yet another referendum on the constitutional recognition of local government. This follows the failed referendum from the Whitlam era, in 1974, which garnered less than 50 per cent of the support of the Australian people. It follows the 1988 referendum on the same question by the Hawke government, which failed to obtain even 30 per cent approval from the Australian people. And yet we now have perhaps the most flawed, and certainly the most unpopular, government in the history of this country putting forward the same question, which the Australian people clearly do not want, in order to detract from the anger that will be directed its way come election day.

It is a matter of record that experts say referenda should not be held on election day because they are a distraction. The advocates for the proposal, including Senator Conroy, say it is a small change to our Constitution. How can we make a small change—I believe it is a radical change—on election day without appropriate discourse, discovery and communication with the Australian people? The government will purport that the bills before us right now will facilitate discourse and the dissemination of information to the Australian people about the forthcoming referendum. I disagree. I think these changes are wholly unnecessary. I would suggest that the maxim 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it' applies in this circumstance. The important part of that phrase is that we know our Constitution is not broken and does not need to be fixed. The Labor Party know that the constitutional mechanism for referenda and the facilitating bills that have historically moved through this place are not broken. But they want to fix it so they can try and engineer the outcome that they desire.

It is quite right for the Australian dollar to be cynical of everything that this government in particular does in its desperate need to cling to power, to plan ahead, to centralise power in Canberra and to put it in the hands of what the Labor Party and their allies in government have always deemed 'the worthy elite'. They are scared of the Australian people actually having a say, and they want to engineer this by making changes to the Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Act. They are rushing this bill through this morning.