I don’t seek to add too much to the Senate’s time. I want to highlight that this Treasury Laws Amendment (2022 Measures No. 5) Bill 2022 provides tax deductible status to a group called Australians for Indigenous Constitutional Recognition. A media release last week said: ‘Australians for Indigenous Constitutional Recognition is a key fundraising and organising vehicle in the campaign for a constitutional recognition through a voice to parliament.’ So, effectively, this bill provides tax deductible status for the group campaigning for the ‘yes’ side of the Voice debate. I am not against that; I welcome supporting groups that are contributing to our political debate. But I do want to highlight a glaring inconsistency here: that there is no equivalent tax deductible status being given to a group to advocate for the ‘no’ side of this campaign.
If you’re listening to this you might be getting the very stark feeling that somehow the government, our betters in society, are stacking the dice against the ‘no’ campaign. There’s a lot of people who are desperate to see this ‘yes’ vote. Our Constitution will be changed along race based lines. This is another example of the playing field being tilted in favour of the ‘yes’ case in a way that is completely inconsistent with our past democratic practices and is seeking to influence and change our Constitution in a non-democratic way. I realise a lot of people don’t know what the Voice is yet; most still think it’s a reality TV show. If you don’t know what it is, just remember that your betters, the politicians, are really, really keen to have it. In my experience, if a politician is really, really keen to get something, it’s probably not good for you. It’s probably not going to be best for our society and our community, because my experience down here in Canberra is that they often don’t put your interests first.
While this bill does not provide an equal playing field for the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ cases, I have great faith in the commonsense and appropriate cynicism about authority that Australians represent. They will not have the wool pulled over their eyes; they will see this for what it is. It is a blatant attempt to support one side of a political debate and not another. It should not stand in our democracy, and I am hopeful the Australian people will make sure it doesn’t later this year.
