Price questions cost of Voice referendum

March 16, 2025

By PETER ROWE 

Australians footed a $411.3 million bill for the Australian Electoral Commission to hold the Voice referendum last year.

The revelations came in response to questioning by Liberal Senator James McGrath during Senate Estimates this week.

Shadow Aboriginal Affairs Minister Senator Nampijinpa Price said the numbers could be a lot higher.

“Not only do we now have confirmation of the enormous financial burden borne by the Australian public, but it is just the tip of the iceberg,” Senator Price said.

“The 411.3-million-dollar picture gets worse when you consider things like tax deductions and government advertising campaigns – this figure is really just the start.”

Senator Price said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was so confident that the referendum would succeed, he “assumed Australians wouldn’t notice the exorbitant costs they had to bear on top of the cost-of-living crisis they were facing thanks to his disastrous leadership.”

Senator Price added the financial burden the Albanese government had placed on the public was unacceptable.

“The cost of the referendum was not simply financial,” she said.

“Families, neighbourhoods and workplaces were pitted against each other – everyone suffered the effects of this divisive referendum forced on them by Anthony Albanese.”

Senator Nampijinpa Price said the recent election and action taken by the new Queensland Liberal National Party government is an example of how money should be used as a tool in addressing Indigenous disadvantage.

“The Albanese government has a terrible track record of financial management in Indigenous affairs, and the $411.3 million wasted on the AEC to hold the referendum is just further evidence of this,” she said.

 

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