Perin Davey (NSW, National Party, Shadow Minister for Water) Share this | Hansard source

As my colleague said, we all support the right of Australians to have a say on this very, very important issue. We absolutely believe in democracy and the right of our people to have a say on the most important document in our society, which is our Constitution. That is why it is so disappointing that the government are not supporting free, open, transparent and balanced democracy.

We on this side have raised three very important points with the government, three points that are fundamental to having a referendum with informed voters, open and transparent processes and integrity. The first point was to ensure we have a pamphlet to outline the 'yes' and 'no' cases, as we have done in all but very few referenda in the past.

The second point was to establish an official 'yes' and 'no' campaign organisation. This is even more important in this day and age, where we have social media and where everyone can set up a tile. You can get a blue tick on certain platforms or be verified on other platforms. If you don't have an official campaign, how do those platforms know who to tick or not to tick? We have seen in the past some of our social media platforms selectively pick and choose who is right and who is wrong. Quite frankly, and with all due respect to Facebook—I am on Facebook and I use it on a daily basis—do I want Mark Zuckerberg determining who is the right person to distribute information on this campaign? No. I would like an organisation, for 'yes' or 'no', to be identified by this place and recognised by this place, so that it takes the Googles, the Amazons and the Facebook Metas out of the picture; it should be an organisation recognised by this place to put forward their case. But, apparently, it's a free-for-all. This government is happy for a free-for-all, is happy let Meta to decide whose voice we hear on this very important debate on the Voice.

We also asked for appropriate funding, equal funding, for those organisations. I've heard the argument: why should taxpayers fund an either/or campaign? Absolutely.

Debate interrupted.