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The Albanese Government intends to pass its Misinformation Bill in late November this year.

However, with the Coalition’s intent to prevent the Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation Bill 2024 from becoming law, and concerns expressed by key crossbench senators, support for the bill in the Senate hangs on a knife’s edge.

Labor has 25 senators who will vote as a block for the bill. The Labor Government is counting on the 11 Greens senators to join them, making a total vote count of 36.

To ensure the bill’s passage into law, 39 senators must vote in favour. The government thus requires the support of three independent senators from the crossbench to achieve the requisite 39-vote majority.

It will be independent senators David Pocock, Jacquie Lambie, Tammy Tyrrell, Fatima Payman, Gerard Rennick, David Van and Lidia Thorpe who decide the fate of the Misinformation Bill.

Here is what we know about these seven senators so far.

David Pocock: ACT

ACT senator David Pocock has deep reservations about the bill.

In a YouTube video, Pocock stated he has “listened to the experts and to people in the ACT, and I’ll be opposing the bill unless major changes are made to the legislation”.

Pocock’s comment is a reiteration of his prior, publicly-stated hesitations. In an audio interview with the ABC on 2 October, he elaborated on his position, citing freedom of expression as a chief concern.

“I’m really concerned about the potential impacts on freedom of expression when we don’t have a Human Rights Act or a Charter of Rights here in Australia”, Pocock has previously explained.

“We’re currently the only Western democracy without one. Any legislation like this has to be heavily scrutinised to ensure that we are still protecting that freedom of expression.”

Pocock raised the problem of who determines what counts as misinformation.

“Who do you make the arbiter of truth when it comes to mis- and dis-information, giving all that power to ACMA and the social media companies to be able to decide what is and isn’t misinformation?”, he said.

The ACT senator argued that political parties often change their messaging on what is true depending on who is saying it.

“I would argue that there is a lot of mis- and dis-information coming from political parties. That’s something else I would really like to see changed.”

He said that statements from top Democratic leaders in the US on COVID-19 measures changed dramatically once Biden took office in 2020. Beforehand, Democrats were critical of COVID policies put out by Trump. But once in power, their stance on some of those policies changed, as they began endorsing what they previously condemned as ‘misinformation’.

Pocock’s point is simple: Who determines truth? The party in power?

Jacquie Lambie: Tasmania

Tasmanian senator Jacquie Lambie has frequently criticised the government over its Misinformation Bill and has committed to voting against it.

Appearing on Sky News on 30 September, Lambie denounced the bill, calling it “a joke”.

“I have to laugh – when you’re looking at ACMA who’s going to police it all, what a joke that is”, she said.

As recently reported in the Sydney Morning Herald, Lambie explained that human rights experts have said it is difficult to identify misinformation, even as the government assumes it is easy.

“There are lots of problems with this bill and the government is rushing it. They only allowed seven working days to make submissions to the inquiry”, she said.

On 15 November she released a statement saying, “After careful consideration and listening to feedback, I’ve decided to vote no on the Government’s Misinformation and Disinformation Bill.

“The spread of lies is absolutely a problem for our democracy, but this Bill, as it stands, isn’t the solution.

“Handing the power to social media companies to regulate ‘truth’ is risky, and I’m not comfortable with the potential negative impacts.”

Tammy Tyrrell: Tasmania

Tasmanian senator Tammy Tyrrell – who was elected in 2022 under the Jacquie Lambie Network, but left the party on 28 March this year – has announced she will oppose the Misinformation Bill.

In a series of posts on X, she outlined her reasons for rejecting the proposed law.

I’m voting against Labor’s misinformation/disinformation bill.

Reasons why I’m voting against this in the thread below 👇 1/4 #auspol

— Tammy Tyrrell (@TammyTyrrell_) November 12, 2024

“Putting the responsibility onto social media companies to decide what is or isn’t misinformation in Australia is a slippery slope,” she wrote. “The definitions of misinformation and disinformation are vague and I’m not convinced this bill can actually be enforced.”

“One person’s truth can be another person’s lie, and both sides have the evidence to back up their arguments. What is and isn’t truth or the facts isn’t always clear cut — I mean, have you met politicians?” Tyrrell quipped.

“Thousands of people reached out to me concerned about this bill. I understand the intent behind this. But it’s important to me that people feel free to express different opinions without fear of being shut down. Having conversations that challenge our views is how we grow.”

Fatima Payman: Western Australia

The former Labor senator quit the party in July this year after going against his colleagues’ vote on the Israel-Hamas war.

Now sitting as an independent senator for her new party, Australia’s Voice, Payman is no longer obliged to follow Labor’s voting rules.

Payman is aware of concerns around the bill. After consultation with individuals and groups, including the Australian Christian Lobby, she came to the conclusion that the Misinformation Bill will harm free speech. As a result, she will vote against the bill.

My position on the Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2024. #auspol #democracy #freedom pic.twitter.com/fqVAaLJWgj

— Fatima Payman (@SenatorPayman) November 15, 2024

Payman’s “chief of staff Glenn Druery [said] the government’s chances of passing it were ‘not looking good’.”

Druery continued, “As the bill stands, the government is scrambling to get the numbers they need. And as we sit here on Wednesday morning at 10 o’clock, I think the government is in trouble. However, the Labor Party has been known to pull rabbits out of their hats in the past, and if they’re clever they might be able to do it again”.

Gerard Rennick: Queensland

Rennick, the now independent senator who left Queensland’s Liberal National Party in August, will vote against the bill.

It is incredibly sneaky to include this reference to “opinion” in the explanatory memorandum of the misinformation disinformation bill.

The Government has no right to silence or censor opinions. This is Government overreach out of control.

This bill must be binned.

See page… pic.twitter.com/JORV4QVYzi

— Senator Gerard Rennick (@SenatorRennick) November 13, 2024

He stated that Queensland voters are telling him they do not want a government agency to referee claims made in public debate.

Rennick added, “The idea of having the government control over their version of the truth is extremely alarming.”

David Van: Victoria

The former Liberal Party senator became an independent senator in July 2023. He first announced that he would support the bill. Believing that the bill would give government limited power, he stated, “If I’m right and that’s the full extent of the powers, I’ve got no problem with that whatsoever”.

But after reading the bill, he has declared his intention, “as it stands”, to vote against it.

Lidia Thorpe: Victoria

Lidia Thorpe, the Greens-turned-independent senator for Victoria, pubically announced on 19 November that she will vote against the bill.

In a media release she states, “The broad and vague definitions in this legislation allow too much scope for suppression of dissenting voices. We have to ensure that political dissent, protest and Truth-Telling are not suppressed or censored.”

After speaking with a range of stakeholders and hearing from many community members, I’ve decided to oppose the Misinformation and Disinformation Bill.

More needs to be done to tackle these problems. But this Bill is not the answer.

Read more here: https://t.co/BkfcTlESK4

— Senator Lidia Thorpe (@SenatorThorpe) November 18, 2024

Conclusion

The vote on the Misinformation Bill is expected to take place in the last week of November.

If all Labor and Greens senators vote for the bill, there will be a total of 36 votes in its favour.

If all Coalition (with One Nation and United Australia Party) senators and Gerard Rennick, David Pocock, Jacquie Lambie, Tammy Tyrrell, Fatima Payman, David Van and Lidia Thorpe all oppose the bill, there will be a total of 40 votes against it.

The Misinformation Bill will fail 36–40.

However, it will only take a couple of senators to fail to vote and one or two to change their minds, and the bill could still well pass.

The bill’s success or failure sits on a knife’s edge.

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Photo by Wikimedia Commons. Updated on 19 November 2024.