Six months after the proposal to give Indigenous Australians a Voice to Parliament was defeated 60:40 in a referendum, the Australian Electoral Commission has revealed who backed the “Yes” and “No” campaigns, with the former spending more than double the amount compared to the latter.
In total, the Yes campaign spent nearly $55 million (US$35.8 million) on the referendum, while No campaign groups spent more than $25 million (US$16.27 million).
The law requires disclosure of any donations over $15,200 (US$9,894).
The biggest pro-Voice spender was Australians for Indigenous Constitutional Recognition, which ran the Yes23 campaign. It spent $43.8 million and received $47.5 million in donations.
The University of New South Wales (UNSW), which housed the Uluru Statement from the Heart, received $11.12 million and spent $10.3 million.
Combined, the two groups received $58.59 million and spent $54.13 million.
Of those opposed, Australians for Unity (also known as Fair Australia) spent $11.1 million.
Conservative political lobby group Advance Australia spent $10.3 million, despite only receiving only $1.3 million in declarable donations during the reporting period.
Clive Palmer’s company Mineralogy spent $1.93 million on its campaign against the Voice, according to its AEC disclosure.
Former Mayors and CEOs Among Large Donors
Silver River Investment Holdings, run by former fund manager Simon Fenwick, gave $250,000 to Australians for Unity while Mr. Fenwick, a longtime donor to Advance, gave another $250,000 in his own name.Former Newcastle mayor Jeffrey McCloy contributed $169,176 and Marius Kloppers, a former chief executive of BHP, donated $100,000 to the same organisation.
The single largest donor to the no campaign appears to be B Macfie Family Pty Ltd, which gave eight separate contributions of $100,000 each. Director Bryant Macfie also gave $100,000 under his own name.
Coalition spokeswoman for Indigenous Australians Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, who was the face of Advance Australia’s campaign, claimed multiple small donations had come from “everyday mums and dads” while the Yes campaign “was the priority of the elites, activists, and corporations.”
“Despite the Yes campaign outspending the No campaign more than two to one, Australians recognised the Voice for what it was: Albanese’s voice of division. The voice was going to entrench division in our constitution and not practically help the most marginalised in our community,” Ms. Nampijinpa Price said.
“Today’s report should send a clear message, particularly to those larger corporations; they should focus on providing for their customers, not telling them what to think.”
Woodside Energy gave $2.18 million, while BHP, Rio Tinto and Wesfarmers all donated about $2 million and Woolworths gave $1.56 million.
Unions Backed Yes Vote
Several unions also donated to the Yes cause: the federal branch of the Australian Education Union gave more than $1 million and the Australian Council of Trade Unions donated $883,685. Givia Pty Ltd ATF Yajilarra Trust donated $4.45 million to UNSW.Former Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull donated $50,000. The progressive campaign group GetUp! received $1.71 million in donations, spending $1.37 million on its pro-Voice campaign.
Waverley Council, which also supported a Yes vote, spent $28,417 but declared no donations, so it presumably used income from rates and services to make up the amount.
“Teal” independent MPs also spent money campaigning for a positive outcome. Monique Ryan spent $67,505, Allegra Spender $63,464, Kylea Tink $15,689, and Zali Steggall $14,600. Kooyong Independent Ltd, which backs Ms. Ryan, the MP for Kooyong, spent $62,947.
But the biggest individual donor to the Yes campaign wasn’t a corporation or a union—it was the Paul Ramsay Foundation, which donated $7.01 million to Australians for Indigenous Constitutional Recognition.
It was founded by businessman and philanthropist Paul Ramsay, who bequeathed $3 billion to it in 2014.
Most Political Parties Spent Heavily on the Debate
The major political parties also spent heavily on promoting their respective positions.Labor’s national secretariat spent $684,936. Its state branches reported spending separately, with a combined $254,343 across its Victoria, NSW, Western Australia, Queensland, South Australia and Northern Territory divisions, for a total across national and state branches of $939,279.
The Liberal party received 10,616 donations totalling $1.903 million, and reported $1.91 million in referendum spending. The federal National Party reported $572,947 in spending and received $580,436 from 2,222 donations.
In contrast, the Greens appear not to have made any donations to the Yes campaign.
A spokesperson for the party said Greens MPs had contributed by using their electoral printing budgets to produce campaign flyers and placards, but could not provide a dollar value for this cost. This is something all MPs can do, and are not required to declare.
“The Australian Greens encouraged supporters to directly contribute to the official Yes campaign and other First Nations campaign groups and did not seek to directly take any donations for the Voice referendum,” the spokesperson said.
“The desire for a national campaign led by First Nations people, not politicians or political parties, was a clear request from the Yes campaign.”
