Australians Call for Truth in Political Advertising Laws After Voice Referendum

New research conducted by the Australia Institute has found that almost nine in ten Australians support the introduction of truth in advertising laws in the wake of the Voice to Parliament referendum.

In the survey, conducted on 1,547 voters from the point polls closed on Saturday evening to Tuesday, the majority of both Yes and No voters voiced concerns about “lies and misinformation” in the lead up to the Voice referendum.

Voters were asked if they agreed with the statement, “I am concerned about lies and misinformation that circulated on social media during the referendum campaign”.

About 72 per cent said they were concerned, compared with 15 per cent who said they were not. Of those who voted yes, 89 per cent were concerned; of those who voted no, 62 per cent were concerned.

It’s legal to lie in a political ad under Australian law. Anyone can pay to influence voters with misinformation included in a political advertisement.

In the wake of the Voice to Parliament referendum, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed Labor’s plan to introduce laws to prevent misinformation used in political messaging, which was proposed in 2022 along with the legislation of political spending and donation caps.

The ACT and South Australia are the only jurisdictions with truth in political advertising laws at a state level. In SA the electoral commission can request inaccurate and misleading political material to be withdrawn, in lieu of a $5000 fine for individuals or $25,000 for a corporation.

The Australia Institute Director, Richards Denniss told Guardian Australia that while he didn’t doubt the votes cast in the referendum were valid, he also had “no doubt that many of the arguments and claims that influenced those votes were not”.

Labor Senator Jana Stewart accused opponents of the Voice of using “Trumpian-style mis- and disinformation” against “some of the most marginalised and disenfranchised communities”.

Independent MP Zali Steal announced she would reintroduce her stop the lies bill to parliament, pressing Albanese on Tuesday to protect Australians against “misleading and deceptive” political advertising.

In Question Time in parliament on Tuesday, prime minister Albanese confirmed the special minister of state was working on a bill, calling the legislation “complex.”

“You don’t want to interfere with any freedom of expression, but you also want to make sure that elections and democratic process can be held in an appropriate way,” he said.

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