GOVT SEEKS TO DUMP BIGGEST PRINT JOB

The federal government wants to ditch printing the Voice referendum required information pamphlet, which would run to multiple pages and go to 9.3 million households, making it by far the biggest print job of the year if it were to be printed.

The government’s joint standing committee on electoral matters has signalled the pamphlet will go, causing an outcry from both the 'Yes' and the 'No' camps. They say no printed pamphlet from the government will cause much of the population to get their information on the referendum from social media pages, which will not have the same committment to facts that the government pamphlet would adhere to.

The pamphlet has been required by referendums for the past 100 years. Among other parts of the pamphlet, it outlines the referendum procedure, and has a 2000 word essay from each side outlining why voters should support their case.

Government special minister of state Don Farrell said the Referendum Act “does not reflect modern delivery and communications methods”, while other committee members, including constitutional expert George Williams, called the pamphlet "antiquated" and “not fit for purpose”.

However, a host of organisations from both sides of the debate are challenging the decision, saying that no pamphlet will provide a vacuum which will be gleefully taken up by those with little regard for realities or sensitivites, while the print industry is aghast that the government would dump what for many people is the primary method they receive information, and which would be a healthy injection of cash into the industry.

Kellie Northwood, CEO at PVCA said, “A decision to drop the referendum pamphlet doesn’t make any sense, and will be an especially poor outcome given that the most digitally-excluded demographic in the country is the indigenous population. Why on earth would the government leave them to digital information that they don’t have access to. Referendums are critically important matters, it is so important to make sure everyone is included in the debate, that they are not left to the fake news of the internet, and print is the only way to achieve that.”

Groups such as the Australian Human Rights Commission are among those demanding the government keeps the pamphlet. It said, “The provision of an official ‘yes/no’ pamphlet is a way of ensuring that electors are provided with alternative points of view in the one document, to consider and compare, and that all electors are provided with the same basic information about the substantive arguments.”

Pro-Voice group Uphold and Recognise said, “If the committee considers that this issue is serious enough to ask electors to vote at a referendum, then consideration should be given to the quality of the information provided to make informed decisions on such important matters.”

The Institute of Public Affairs, which supports the No side, said no pamphlet would deny voters the oportunity to hear the case for no.

For the print industry, the loss of 9.3 million 16pp pamphlets is a less than palatable start of the year, as is the signal that the government and its advisors are so fixated on digital communications it is prepared to drop print from its communications mix.