June 9, 2023
The Albanese Government needs to urgently course correct to protect the integrity of the referendum on the Voice from foreign interference.
A Senate committee report on the Administration of the referendum into an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice has exposed the government’s complacency on the risk of foreign interference, despite there being “a clear risk that this referendum could be used as another vehicle to subvert Australia’s democracy.”
The Albanese Government’s failure to take the risk of foreign interference in the referendum seriously is exacerbated by their decision to prevent the establishment of formal ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ campaign entities, and to provide equal funding to each case.
The decision to deny equal funding for the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ case is at odds with the position formerly advocated by Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus in 2009, when as chair of a committee inquiring into the machinery of referendums, he pushed for equal funding of the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ cases which he noted was in line with the “original intention” of the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ pamphlet and was “consistent with democratic ideals of informed debate.”
Without these authoritative sources, the Albanese Government is creating an information vacuum that malign foreign actors will seek to exploit against Australia’s interests, creating the perfect environment for mis- and disinformation to proliferate.
ASIO director-general Mike Burgess has made clear that foreign interference is Australia’s principal security concern. The advent of social media and the digitisation of electoral events means this insidious activity can breed at scale and at speed with corrosive effects.
The Albanese Government needs to urgently correct its course to protect the integrity of the referendum. The Coalition will support measures to mitigate the risk of foreign interference in the referendum, including through the establishment and provision of formal ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ campaign entities.
Report on the Administration of the referendum into an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice
