Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I note that the Greens will be supporting this amendment. As I said in my speech on the second reading, the Greens support the public having access to clear, objective, accurate and respectful information outlining the 'yes' and 'no' cases. For many Australians the implications of a referendum are not clear, and they need to have the confidence that the official material produced in this place will help inform their decision. We have already seen the dangers of misinformation and missing information in the current debate.

Submitters to the inquiry into this bill and to the various referendum reviews that preceded it have called for an independent panel to produce the official material. That would help ensure that the material was clearly communicated, that it was accurate, that it was unbiased, that it candidly outlined the pros and cons without fearmongering and that it did not include discretionary or racist talking points. The Australian Human Rights Commission is an expert independent and well-respected body. We support the amendment to give them responsibility for producing the materials to help Australians understand the referendum question. Giving people information they can trust will help to ensure that we get a referendum result with integrity.

I might add that we actually would like to see broader reforms in this space and have truth in political advertising laws, something that we have advocated for for many years now. And I hope that we can have that conversation as well as many others in the course of the JSCEM reforms that are coming down the line. But, in the absence of those laws which actually would have delivered a good and impartial result, we think this is a good suggestion. We will also be supporting Senator Pocock's amendment, which makes a slightly different proposal but with the same intent, to ensure that there's a basis of truth and independence in the preparation of these materials.