1911 Australian referendum (Trade and Commerce)
The Constitution Alteration Bill 1910, was an unsuccessful Australian referendum held in the 1911 referendums which sought to alter the Australian Constitution to extend the Commonwealth power in respect of trade and commerce, the control of corporations, labour and employment and combinations and monopolies. All of the proposed changes were contained within the one question.
Question
Do you approve of the proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution entitled 'Constitution Alteration 1910'?The proposal was to alter the text of section 51 of the Constitution to read as follows:
51. The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have Legislative power to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to:Results
The referendum was not approved by a majority of voters, and a majority of the voters was achieved in only one state, Western Australia.
State On rolls Ballots issued For Against Informal - - Votes % Votes % - - - - New South Wales 868,194 384,188 135,968 36.11 240,605 7,396 Victoria 723,377 448,566 170,288 38.64 270,390 7,554 Queensland 293,003 162,135 69,552 43.75 89,420 3,002 South Australia 216,027 133,802 50,358 38.07 81,904 1,374 Western Australia 138,697 61,482 33,043 27,185 45.14 870 Tasmania 102,326 58,053 24,147 42.11 33,200 673 Total for Commonwealth 2,341,624 1,248,226 483,356 39.42 742,704 20,869 Results Obtained majority in one State and an overall minority of 259,348 votes. - - - - - - Discussion
This was the first of many times that similar questions were asked at a referendum. On every occasion the public decided not to vest power in the Commonwealth over these matters.
- 1913 referendum on trade and commerce