22nd Mar 2023, 7:04 PM – Senate Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Amendment Bill 2022 - in Committee - Campaign organisations

The majority voted against an amendment introduced by Victorian Senator Jane Hume (Liberal), which means it failed.

Amendment text

(1) Page 63 (after line 2), at the end of the Bill, add:

Schedule 9 — Campaign organisations

Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Act 1984

1 At the end of subsection 11(4)

Add:

; (d) a body nominated under section 11A.

2 After section 11

Insert:

11A Campaign organisations

(1) Where a proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution is to be submitted to the electors, the Minister must, within 2 weeks of the passage of the proposed law, by writing nominate:

(a) a body (the Yes campaign organisation) to campaign in favour of the proposed law; and

(b) a body (the No campaign organisation) to campaign against the proposed law.

(2) The Minister must ensure that the Yes campaign organisation and the No campaign organisation are allocated equal amounts of money for the purposes of the administration and operation of each campaign organisation.

(3) Payments under this section shall be made out of moneys appropriated by the Parliament by another Act.

(4) A body nominated by the Minister under subsection (1) ceases to be a nominated body the day after the voting day of a referendum.

3 After subsection 89(4A)

Insert:

(4B) A body nominated by the Minister under subsection 11A(1), or a person authorised by the body to act under this section, may appoint persons to act as scrutineers during the scrutiny at each counting centre, but the number of scrutineers for each body must not exceed the number of officers who are engaged in the scrutiny at each counting centre.