On 14 October, every eligible Australian will vote on whether to enshrine an Indigenous Voice to Parliament in the Constitution.
Ahead of this vote, TDA asked the 50 largest publicly-listed companies on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) for their position on the referendum.
None of the companies, which span industries like mining, finance and health, said they would campaign for a ‘No’ vote. Of those who responded, half said they are backing the ‘Yes’ vote.
Why take a position?
In recent years, many big businesses and ASX50 companies have taken public stances on issues like climate change and social justice causes such as the 2017 marriage equality vote.
Several ASX50 companies have announced their position on the Voice throughout the year.
Who are Australia’s biggest companies backing at the referendum?
Of Australia’s biggest public companies:
- Nineteen support a Yes vote. 12 of these have donated to the Yes campaign.
- Eighteen don’t have a position on the Voice. 12 have confirmed they haven’t made any donation.
- Thirteen declined to comment or didn’t reply to TDA’s question.
Banking
The ‘Big Four’ banks all support a Yes vote.
All four banks (Westpac, Commonwealth Bank, NAB, and ANZ) are also donating to the Yes campaign.
Natural resources
There are 12 resource companies (mining and energy, for example) in the ASX50.
BHP, Rio Tinto, Woodside Energy, and Origin Energy all support the Yes vote, and have donated to the Yes campaign. South32 has made a donation to the Uluru Dialogue, an education initiative supportive of the Voice to Parliament.
The other seven, such as Fortescue Metals, don’t have a position.
Australia’s biggest brands
Coles and Woolworths are both supporting the Voice. Coles isn’t making any donations and Woolworths declined to comment on donations.
Qantas is backing the Yes vote with a donation to the Yes campaign. The national carrier fixed ‘Yes23’ logos on three of its planes earlier this year.
Telstra publicly supports the Voice, and is making a Yes donation.
When do you vote?
The referendum will take place on 14 October. Early voting has already begun.
Any person who has voted in a previous election is automatically enrolled for the referendum.
An interactive map displaying polling places is available on the AEC website at aec.gov.au/referendums
