When Malcolm Turnbull announced they were launching a non-binding, non-compulsory survey that would not only be less accurate than a phone poll of 1000 people but would require us to use an actual real-life postbox, people were mad.
Not just yes voters – people on both sides of the debate were angry the government was spending $122 million to ask a question they already knew the answer to and was quite obviously skewed to favour a certain demographic.
(Insert joke about millennials not knowing what a letterbox is.)
An astronomical figure, sure, but what about the money being spent by each campaign? Opponents to marriage equality have so far spent around five times the amount yes campaigners have on TV ads.
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Where’s this flow of cash coming from? Well, yesterday it came to light that the Anglican Diocese of Sydney donated one million dollars to the ‘No’ campaign.
“The Standing Committee has also enthusiastically backed our participation in the Coalition For Marriage and has taken the bold step of drawing down one million dollars from the Diocesan Endowment to promote the ‘No’ case,” Archbishop of Sydney Glenn Davies said, according to BuzzFeed News.
“The Standing Committee has also enthusiastically backed our participation in the Coalition For Marriage and has taken the bold step of drawing down one million dollars from the Diocesan Endowment to promote the ‘No’ case.”
A bold step indeed.
In 2010, the archbishop of the time Peter Jensen said the Anglican Church in Sydney was “asset-rich but cash-poor”.
Perhaps the Church’s saving grace through tough times has been that they’re tax-exempt in Australia.
This is explicit under the Charities Act 2013 which applies to groups who fulfil one of 12 “charitable purposes”.
Some of those charitable purposes, however, are “promoting reconciliation, mutual respect and tolerance between groups of individuals that are in Australia” and
“promoting or protecting human rights” – something the ‘No’ campaign is in direct contradiction with.
While the ‘Yes’ campaign also recently received a donation of $1 million from Qantas CEO Alan Joyce’s personal (very deep) pockets, these figures challenge Lyle Shelton’s assertion the ‘No’ side is up against a “David and Goliath battle”.
15 better ways to spend the money from the postal survey
What’s $122 million between friends? To men of Malcolm’s ilk it’s mere pocket change – it would barely cover costs like cancer research, support for domestic violence victims or foreign aid!
Well, if you’re asking, here’s 15 that came to us quite quickly:
1. Move 305 humans detained on Nauru – $400,000 pa.
2. 1,906 average teacher salaries – $64,000 per year.
3. Go towards getting homeless people off the street which is currently costing the Victorian government $25,615 per person.
4. 20,333,333 packets of 6pk chicken nuggets – $6.35 each.
5. Fund the Safe Schools program with ALP’s pledged $2 million pa 61 times over.
6. 2.75 million bulk billed GP visits – $44.25 each.
7. Fund 1800 RESPECT domestic violence service for more than a decade – $10.1 million pa.
8. 16,025 child care rebates – $7, 613 per year.
9. 0.06 Sydney Olympics – ~ $2 billion each
WATCH: Nikki Webster sing Strawberry Kisses 16 years later because she was the best thing to come out of the Sydney Olympics.
10. Buy homes across Australia that is definitely in no way experiencing a housing affordability crisis:
169 median price homes in Canberra
212 median price homes in Darwin
293 median price homes in Adelaide
120 median price homes in Sydney
186 median price homes in Brisbane
143 median price homes in Perth
311 median price homes in Hobart
11. Fund cancer research to diagnose, treat, manage and analyse childhood cancer for another 27 years – $4.4 million pa.
12. 23,340 helicopter flights to attend Liberal fundraisers for Bron – $5227 each.
13. 717,647 iconic John Howard tracksuit pants – $170 each.
14. 34,857 French bulldogs – $3500 each.
15. 2,000 average registered nurses salaries – $61,000 per year.
It’s an insane cost, but at least we’ll definitely have equal rights for our citizens… well, maybe, the results aren’t binding.
