“The revelation the Albanese Government hid special financial support for the ‘yes’ campaign for the Voice to Parliament in the Budget is further evidence that the deck is being stacked by Australia’s governing class on the referendum,” said Daniel Wild, Deputy Executive Director of the Institute of Public Affairs.
Page 17 of Budget Paper Number No. 2 shows the Federal Government will provide Australians for Indigenous Constitutional Recognition – a body campaigning for a ‘yes’ vote at the referendum – with Deductible Gift Recipient status. Yet no corresponding concessions were announced for the ‘no’ campaign.
“No matter your view on the referendum, both the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ campaigns must receive the same financial support and concessions from government, otherwise we could potentially end up with a rigged outcome,” Mr Wild said.
“That the Federal Government is providing the ‘yes’ campaign with an immediate financial advantage, with no similar commitment of support for the ‘no’ campaign, reinforces the fact that the referendum will not be a free and fair debate.”
The Federal Government’s Budget announcement follows on from Facebook’s ban on the IPA from promoting our research video discussing the importance of why all Australians are equal and that Race Has No Place in our constitution.
“Big Tech, big business and the mainstream media are all marshaling their formidable resources to prevent debate and silence Australians who want to keep racial equality in our constitution,” Mr Wild said.
To ensure that Australians can have confidence in the referendum vote, the Federal Government must immediately:
- Provide equal funding and equal concessions for the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ campaigns, to ensure debate is free and fair.
- Ensure Australians who hold a genuine view on the referendum, for either ‘yes’ or ‘no’, are not cancelled for their views and shut out of the debate.
- Stop Big Tech censorship of the ‘no’ case, to ensure that Australians receive fair information about how the Voice to Parliament will divide us by race.
Click here to see Daniel Wild’s video on the need for free and fair referendum debate
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