According to a current Fairfax story, the government is making a concerted attempt to secure a 'YES' vote for constitutional recognition of local authorities with $10 million funding allocated to the 'YES' camp & a mere '$500,000' to the 'NO' mob.

Local Government Minister Anthony Albanese defended the $10 million contribution to the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA), saying it will enable a positive and proactive campaign to be held in the national interest.

To get a better understanding of the implications of this vote read the following story.

http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=15103&page=0

If the article is correct it will allow the Government to pick and choose what councils to give money to, therefore allowing them to target swinging electorates for a vote buying campaign.

At the moment they can't do that.

Have a read and then judge you will see why $10 million is being spent on yes and a few peanuts on no.

Actually the YES vote is getting funded to the tune of $20 Million not $10 million.

The ''yes'' case will have $10 million from the Government.

ALSO The Australian Local Government Association, which supports constitutional recognition for councils, will contribute a further $10 million.

Here is the link to story

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/yes-case-in-referendum-receives-20m-20130617-2odbc.html

Scarey ... I never cease to be astounded by the sheer effrontery of the bloodsucking parasites !!

Praxidice, many would concur.

How is this not blatant corruption? The government and opposition want the people to support a certain law change so they take an extra $9.5 million out of the public treasury to support that campaign.
I know that government financed “information campaigns” before elections “explaining their new reforms ” to the electorate is political advertising in disguise, but with this referendum they don’t even bother to disguise it!
Albanese declares that the advertising funding should be skewed because more MP’s support the proposal. I’m not sure what that means but if it means more Australians support change and thus the money goes where the sentiment is, then why waste money on advertising if the result is a sure thing anyway?
Before referenda the electoral commission send out information packs to all voters, so if the vote is a certainty would that not that be enough?
One suspects that the government and opposition want the proposal to pass, but are not that confident it will, so are just exercising their legislative power to unlevel the playing field in their favour.

Edward Carson

I suggest the deafening silence from the GG re the attempt by ALP / LNP to buy a 'YES' vote constitutes a pretty strong argument that she isn't as independent as she should be.