Voters keen to know the result of the referendum on Saturday night will find blanket coverage on the public broadcasters, ABC, SBS and NITV, as well as on Sky News Australia, but the commercial networks are keeping their reporting to a minimum.
The SBS and NITV presenters, Anton Enus and Natalie Ahmat, a Mudburra and Wagadagam woman, will kick off the four-hour simulcast at 6.30pm with news and live crosses to reporters on the ground.
This will be followed by a two-hour live special, The Point: Australia Decides, presented by Wuthathi and Meriam man John Paul Janke and Whadjuk Noongar woman Narelda Jacobs.
The Point will host a panel discussion with Prof Marcia Langton, the Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce, former Labor senator Nova Peris, minister for social services, Amanda Rishworth, and Tasmanian Liberal MP Bridget Archer.
The ABC is also offering wall-to-wall coverage on Saturday night, similar in scale to an election night.
Fran Kelly will be reporting for ABC local radio from 8am and NewsRadio will provide continuous coverage of the referendum count, with hosts Tom Oriti and Dana Morse.
On Sunday morning Kelly will be joined by the ABC Melbourne host Raf Epstein.
On ABC TV and iview the national news bulletin will be read early, at 5pm, by Jeremy Fernandez, before an expert panel starts at 5.30pm.
The panel will be anchored by the Indigenous journalists Bridget Brennan and Dan Bourchier along with the Insiders host, David Speers.
The ABC elections analyst, Antony Green, will be giving his insights along with input from the chief political correspondent, Laura Tingle, Europe correspondent Isabella Higgins, who has returned for the voice vote, and Patricia Karvelas.
The results of the referendum will be analysed in a 90-minute special episode of Insiders hosted by Speers and Higgins, along with SBS’s Janke and Nine’s David Crowe as guests.
There will be number-crunching from the ABC analyst Casey Briggs and interviews with leading figures in the yes and no campaigns.
A special edition of The Drum hosted by Ellen Fanning will air at 6.30pm.
Rupert Murdoch’s pay TV channel, Sky News Australia, which has had a dedicated channel covering the voice to parliament, is also devoting significant resources to the count.
Starting at 5pm, the Voice Referendum Live will be hosted by Kieran Gilbert with Sky’s political editor, Andrew Clennell, and presenters Chris Kenny, a yes proponent, and Peta Credlin, a no proponent.
The Labor communications minister, Michelle Rowland, and the leader of the National party, David Littleproud, will be guests.
Sky News host Andrew Bolt has revealed he almost resigned over the Indigenous Voice to Parliament proposal as he had “lost faith” in Australians.https://t.co/3DgU2iUpjm
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) October 12, 2023
The Sky News presenter Andrew Bolt, a strong proponent of the no vote, will give his analysis as will the former Labor powerbroker Graham Richardson.
On Channel Seven, Michael Usher will anchor a half-hour special after the news bulletin with the political editor, Mark Riley. Seven will then offer up a 2009 movie, The Proposal, starring Sandra Bullock.
This Saturday - Australia decides.#VoiceReferendum | Full coverage LIVE on Channel 9 and 9Now pic.twitter.com/CYbfhdbbgc
— 9News Australia (@9NewsAUS) October 13, 2023
Nine is taking a similar low-key approach, airing a half-hour voice special before the cricket starts at 7.30pm.
On Sunday, Nine’s flagship current affairs program 60 Minutes will have a report on the result of the referendum, presented by Amelia Adams.
