Original article by Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 9-Aug-17

Pollster John Scales of JWS Research has questioned the cost of the Federal Government’s proposed postal plebiscite on same-sex marriage. Scales argues that the estimated cost of $A122m is excessive, and his firm could poll 1,000 people in each federal electorate with a margin of error of 3.1 per cent, and at a cost of less than $A1.1m. Scales notes that postal votes have similar limitations to public opinion polls, adding that there was a response rate of just 47 per cent for Australia’s last postal vote in 1997.

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