The Daily Telegraph

• With early voting set to open next week for the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum, this is a critical time for campaigners to win over voters.
• If the same voting patterns apply to the referendum, this means more than half of Australians, particularly older voters, may have cast a vote before voting day on October 14.

What’s happening in the polls?

• According to Professor Simon Jackman’s averaging of the polls, “no” currently leads “yes” by 58% to 42% nationally.
• The rate of decline in support for “yes” continues to be about 0.75 of a percentage point a week.
• If this trend continues, the “yes” vote would sit at 39.6% on October 14, 5.5 percentage points below the “yes” vote in the republic referendum.

What’s happening in the news and social media?

• Using Meltwater data, we have seen a massive spike in Voice media coverage since Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the referendum date at the end of August.
• In the most recent week we analysed, from September 14-21, we saw a huge jump of mentions of the Voice to Parliament (2.86 million) in print media, radio, TV and social media.
• This compares to about a quarter million mentions in the first week of the “yes” and “no” campaigns, which we documented in our last report of this series monitoring both campaigns.
• Media coverage of the Voice peaked on September 17 with 38,000 mentions, thanks to widespread coverage of the “yes” rallies that day around the country.

Who is advertising online?

• This week, we specifically turned our attention to the online advertising spending of the campaigns.
• The main online advertising spend is on Meta’s Facebook and Instagram platforms.
• In the last three months, its advertising expenditure exceeds $1.1 million, compared to just under $100,000 for Fair Australia, the leading “no” campaign organisation.
• The advertising spending data shows how drastically different the strategies of the two main campaigns are.

Referendum disinformation

• Studies show disinformation surrounding the referendum has been prevalent on X since at least March.
• To mitigate the harms, the AEC has established a disinformation register to inform citizens about the referendum process and call out falsehoods.
• We’ve identified three types of disinformation campaigns in the campaign so far.
• This disinformation type is not covered in the AEC’s register, as the organisation has no provisions to enforce truth in political advertising.
• All three types of disinformation campaigns attacking this referendum should concern us deeply because they threaten trust in our political institutions, which undermines our vibrant democracy.

• If they have other options, or feel that a price is simply too high, they may simply look elsewhere.
• For a price increase to be perceived as fair, the reference point needs to shift in accordance with the new cost.
• Presenting price changes as being cheaper during off-peak times are likely to be viewed as a gain from the drinkers’ perspective.
• But research suggests that adjusting the presentation and framing of new price structure may lead to a change that drinkers are more willing to swallow.

• The firm congratulates Tashi Lassalle on being promoted to Partner only 12 months after joining Greenbrook.
• Tashi, renowned for her leadership roles at Actis, Lloyd's of London and the Church of England, brings rich experience to her new partnership role.
• Andrew Honnor, Managing Partner of Greenbrook, commented: "This news marks a significant expansion of our advisory capacity as a firm.
• Ysabel, Harriet and Emelia are recent graduates from leading international universities, bringing a fresh perspective to the Associate team.

• LONDON, May 15, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Optimum Strategic Communications ("Optimum"), the specialist life sciences communications consultancy, today announces the appointment of highly-experienced medical journalist, Stephen Adams, as a full-time member of its team.
• Stephen, who joins as an Associate Director with immediate effect, spent 10 years at The Mail on Sunday, first as Health Correspondent and subsequently as Medical Editor since 2019.
• Commenting on the appointment, Mary Clark, Chief Executive Officer of Optimum Strategic Communications, said: "After an illustrious career in journalism, we are very pleased that Stephen has joined the Optimum team.
• Stephen Adams added: "As a journalist, I have always respected Optimum for its professionalism, creativity and personal touch.