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New data released by the Australian Electoral Commission show a spending and donations gulf between the two sides of the Voice to Parliament referendum.
Organisations campaigning for a Yes vote received millions more in donations than their counterparts on the No side, with equivalent results in their spending.
Australians for Constitutional Recognition, the central Yes campaign body, received more than $40 million dollars in donations. Some $11 million dollars went to the University of New South Wales, which houses the Uluru Dialogue group at its Indigenous Law Centre.
The closest rival in the No campaign was Australians for Unity, which received more than $10 million dollars in donations.
That organisation ultimately spent almost $12 million dollars. In combination with Advance Australia, the other prominent No campaign, some $22.26 million dollars was spent advocating against the Voice.
That figure is less than half the $53.14 million dollars spent by the major Yes campaigns.
The data, released in accordance with legislative changes made in March last year, do not provide a full picture of donations.
With the declaration threshold set at $15,200 dollars, any donation below that amount does not have to be declared.
The No campaign received more smaller donations than the yes side: Advance Australia’s spending figure for example sits well above their declared donations of $1.32 million dollars.
The Voice to Parliament, a recommendation of the Uluru Dialogues, was rejected in a referendum put to the populace in October last year by a roughly 60 to 40 margin.
