David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Minister, for the explanation. Minister, can you give the Senate a guarantee that once that JSCEM review is tabled, should a social media blackout be part of that, that that will be brought before parliament to ensure that the referendum isn't disadvantaged? I really don't believe that the referendum should have to put up with a potentially huge amount of advertising in the few days before Australians go to vote on this very important issue just because we haven't kept up with electoral reform. We're not reflecting in our laws what I think is an expectation from the community. Social media now is a very legitimate advertising channel; in fact, millions and millions of dollars are spent on social media advertising. It seems that, rather than getting ahead, it is common sense to bring this up to date.

I accept your reason that you don't want this to be ahead of JSCEM, but, should JSCEM before the referendum conclude that social media should be included, will the government seek to address this before the referendum?