Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Trade and Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

No, it's not the intention of the government to include those groups in this particular process, but any organisation in this country is free to express their point of view, either yes or no, in terms of the referendum. The great thing about Australia is that we are a democracy. People have the right to express yes or no. The whole point of the referendum is asking the Australian people what they think about this constitutional change. We heard earlier from particularly many of the coalition speakers on this topic just how difficult it is to pass a constitutional amendment in this country. The requirement is that you have four of the six states voting in favour at least and then a majority of Australians voting in favour. So it's a difficult hurdle to get over. The government supports the Voice. I'm very clear on that. And of course we have a couple of colleagues in the chamber have been very actively engaged in the process, Senator Dodson and Senator McCarthy.

But regarding the people that you were referring to, they are free to participate in the process and, like everybody, will have an opportunity to express their point of view. I hope that they are not successful, because I believe that this referendum should succeed, but good luck to them in presenting their arguments.