Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Bernardi now is conflating two different issues. The Attorney-General has no role in relation to managing compliance with authorisation requirements. Authorisation requirements are managed in the usual way, through the Australian Electoral Commission, under this legislation, and, as is always the case in the context of an election campaign, relevant material will have to be properly authorised, which is something that was flagged by the government right from the outset, which is precisely what would have been the case if the Senate had passed legislation to put in place a compulsory attendance plebiscite. That's precisely what would have happened in that scenario, and it is going to be the case under this bill, if the Senate passes it.