Legislation governing the operation of this year's Voice to Parliament referendum appears likely to pass the Senate with Coalition backing, as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese tells his party bipartisanship is key to the referendum's success.
The government has agreed to provide official pamphlets outlining both the Yes and No campaign positions on the referendum, in exchange for securing the Coalition's support for its bill.
Negotiations on the exact contents of the pamphlet are ongoing, with sources telling the ABC the majority of Liberal MPs and several Nationals support the Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Amendment Bill.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and Nationals Leader David Littleproud are among those who have actively pushed for the party to back the machinery legislation.
A number of conservative Liberal MPs and Nationals have pushed to oppose the bill, a split described by some as a "diversity of opinion".
That legislation — which is being debated in the Senate this week — outlines the framework for operating a referendum, including donation and campaigning rules, as well as how and when voting will take place.
It proposes to modernise the act, which has not been used since the last referendum was held in 1999.
However, it is separate to the legislation that will be specific to this year's referendum.
The government had previously sought to remove the requirement to provide the pamphlet, but will instead keep it, which has also attracted crossbench support.
Liberal senator Linda Reynolds said that, while government engagement was welcome, the party still had concerns.
"It will make it less likely for this to go through if the majority of Australians don't have access to information they can trust and they can make an assessment of both the Yes and the No case to cast their vote," Senator Reynolds said.
"On the face of it, it seems like it may be outdated in the days of modern media but this sets a dangerous precedent for deliberately not providing a pamphlet.
"We know electoral events are increasingly influenced from social media algorithms, which provide that echo chamber. This would be official material that people can trust."
The Coalition has also been campaigning for the establishment of official Yes and No campaigns with equal funding, but the ABC understands that will not form part of the deal.
Referendum working group to recommend wording
That deal coincides with what is expected to be the last meeting of the Referendum Working Group as it finalises its recommendation for the wording of the Voice referendum question itself.
The government has been adamant that it would introduce legislation with the finalised wording of the referendum question next week.
As that deadline draws near, the government party room was warned of the consequences of a lack of bipartisanship for the success of the referendum.
Bipartisanship will be key
Liberal senator Andrew Bragg warned the referendum would be unsuccessful unless the government widened its support base.
"For people who want to see this referendum succeed, we recognise there is a very broad base of support that is required to pass referenda and that means people who vote for the Labor Party and Liberal Party [need] to come together and vote in favour," Senator Bragg said.
"We need to maximise space for there to be this cross-partisan support.
"I think it would be premature for the government to introduce a constitution alteration bill before there has been a parliamentary committee giving its advice on the wording that is proposed."
The Albanese government has said it would refer the wording to a committee once the legislation has been introduced to parliament.
