Scott Ryan (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business and Fair Competition) Share this | Hansard source

Minister, in that case, you are not willing to guarantee that it will be in any way like it was 1990, with effectively a level playing field, you might say, for particular yes and no cases with Commonwealth money. I appreciate that this situation is slightly different, but then who will be making this decision? Is it the minister? Because there is a lot of money here: $10 million buys a few ads and this government seems to know a bit about that. I am seeking clarification here, because it is clear that the money is mainly going to be used for education and advocating the benefits of reform—I think that was the phrase that you used—which is effectively a yes vote. Who will be making that decision? Have any criteria been developed for how you will make that decision and—I cannot remember the exact words you used—will they assess or reflect the vote? Is it only a vote in the two chambers of parliament that you will be using as a measure for that? Will there be proportionality? One committee recommendation from the House, I believe from a long time ago, was for proportionality, but that has not been floated in this bill. So I am seeking clarity around the decision makers and the criteria, lest, as I think is becoming obvious, this be an appropriation to fund one side of an argument in a referendum.