Every home in Australia will be sent a lengthy paper brochure before the referendum containing two 2,000-word essays outlining the cases for and against the proposed Indigenous voice.
But as Australia prepares for its first referendum in a quarter of a century, several arcane quirks surrounding the official pamphlet are coming to light – and are causing headaches for federal politicians who want the chance to write an essay mailed to every household in the nation.
One Nation’s Pauline Hanson has already said she wants to write it, and the Coalition is planning on splitting its members to vote for and against the bill, so they can be involved in the pamphlet too.
What is the referendum pamphlet?
The Referendum Machinery Act, governing how referendums are held, requires the Australian Electoral Commission to compile and deliver the paper document to all voters. It contains essays for and against the constitutional alteration, written by politicians who voted for or against the bill in parliament (more on that later).
The pamphlet contains factual information about the proposed constitutional changes, plus arguments in favour and against the proposed law. These need to be “authorised by a majority of those members of the parliament who voted” yes or no respectively.
Each argument can be up to 2,000 words long. In the 1999 republic referendum, the pamphlet stretched to 38 A4 pages.
The AEC plans to translate the pamphlet into more than 35 culturally and linguistically diverse languages, plus 20 traditional Indigenous languages. For some Indigenous languages which are oral-only and don’t have a written element, the AEC is investigating other ways of publishing the pamphlet material, including audio recordings.
Why does it exist?
In the time before mass media, the pamphlet was designed to inform voters about complicated changes to the constitution. But despite the federal government and some leading constitutional scholars pushing to abolish it in the social media age (more on that later, too), it continues.
Didn’t they get rid of it?
The Albanese government wanted to abolish the pamphlet. The special minister of state, Don Farrell, said “methods of communication have changed significantly” since the pamphlet was introduced in 1912, and there was “no longer any need for taxpayers to pay for a pamphlet to be sent to every household”.
Some yes campaigners had warned the pamphlet could be used to spread misinformation. Prof George Williams, constitutional expert at the University of NSW, said: “The idea you have a written pamphlet of information rather than the internet just doesn’t make sense, it’s out of date.”
But other campaigners on the yes and no sides said they wanted pamphlets retained, claiming it was needed to combat misinformation and present their official position.
The Coalition demanded the retention of the pamphlets in negotiations with the government for the opposition to back the referendum. The negotiations were ultimately unsuccessful and the Coalition will formally oppose the referendum, but the pamphlet was kept anyway.
“Whether a pamphlet goes out, it doesn’t hurt … If people want taxpayers to pay for it, there’s a judgment call there, fine,” Albanese said in February.
Who gets to write it?
The yes and no arguments must be authorised by a majority of politicians who cast respective votes in parliament. But the legislation is silent on exactly how that process should operate.
Guardian Australia understands the government may set up large yes and no committees in parliament, allowing them to run like parliamentary committees and produce a final report. The requirement for a “majority” to authorise the essays means Labor and the Coalition will probably dominate the process, but crossbenchers – including David Pocock, Lidia Thorpe and Hanson – want input too.
The legislation creates a quirk where, despite the Coalition pledging to support the bill to hold the referendum, some Coalition members must vote no on the bill if they want to work on the no essay.
Is it factchecked?
Not by any external authority, and not by the AEC. The commission said its role is simply to receive, print and deliver the pamphlet, and doesn’t have a role in verifying its contents.
Pocock had pushed for factchecking of the pamphlet and contributors to a parliamentary committee called for some independent body to analyse the contents but those calls were not heeded.
When does it arrive?
Voters are required to receive the pamphlet two weeks before referendum day, which is expected in mid-October. The AEC is required to receive the yes and no essays within four weeks of the constitutional alteration bill passing parliament, which is expected to occur in June.
