Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Amendment Bill 2022

The majority voted in favour of a motion to agree with the main idea of the bill, which is known as giving it a second reading. This means that they can now discuss the bill in more detail.

What is the bill's main idea?

According to the explanatory memorandum, the bill would:

• suspend the provisions in the Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Act 1984 (the Referendum Act) that require the production and distribution of a Yes and No case against a proposed constitutional change and impose restrictions on the Government otherwise spending money on a referendum campaign;
• regulate donations and expenditure for referendum campaigns and impose reporting obligations. It would also ban foreign donations of $100 or more from being used for referendum campaigns and ban foreign campaigners authorising referendum material; and
• update the Referendum Act to generally bring it into line with updates to the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 that have been legislated in recent years.