George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

and Senator Abetz reminds me at least one of them was a Tasmanian; there were about half a dozen of them—crossed the floor, against the position of their party, to vote no. And in that referendum, because there was a division of opinion in the parliament, the yes case and the no case were funded equally. That is the relevant constitutional precedent that establishes the constitutional practice. But, yesterday, dishonestly, in a most disingenuous way, Mr Albanese, on behalf of the government, said that, because most members of the House of Representatives voted yes and only a couple of opposition members voted no, the funding would be split in a 20 to one ratio. That is inconsistent with the assurances given to the opposition by the government and inconsistent with constitutional practice. It is a disgrace.