1913 Australian Industrial Matters referendum
31 May 1913 (1913-05-31)
Do you approve of the proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution entitled —

"Constitution Alteration (Industrial Matters) 1912" ?
Results
Choice
 Votes  %
Yes 961,601 49.33%
No 987,611 50.67%
Valid votes 1,949,212 95.98%
Invalid or blank votes 81,558 4.02%
Total votes 2,030,770 100.00%
Registered voters/turnout 2,760,216 73.57%

The Constitution Alteration (Industrial Matters) Bill 1912,[1] was an unsuccessful referendum held in 1913 that sought to alter the Australian Constitution to give the Commonwealth legislative power in respect to industrial matters.

Issues

Question

Do you approve of the proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution entitled 'Constitution Alteration (Industrial Matters) 1912'?

The proposal was to alter the text of section 51 of the Constitution to read as follows:[2]

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:

(xxxv.) Conciliation and arbitration for the prevention and settlement of industrial disputes extending beyond the limits of any one State:

Labour, and employment, and unemployment, including-
(a) the terms and conditions of labour and employment in any trade, industry, occupation, or calling;
(b) the rights and obligations of employers and employés;
(c) strikes and lockouts;
(d) the maintenance of industrial peace; and
(e) the settlement of industrial disputes.

Results

Result [3][4]
State Electoral roll Ballots issued For Against Informal
Vote  % Vote  %
New South Wales 1,036,187 717,855 318,622 46.88 361,044 53.12 36,933
Victoria 830,391 626,861 297,892 49.02 309,804 50.98 18,837
Queensland 363,082 280,525 147,171 54.36 123,554 45.64 9,579
South Australia 244,026 195,463 96,626 51.40 91,361 48.60 7,259
Western Australia 179,784 132,149 66,451 52.71 59,612 47.29 5,753
Tasmania 106,746 80,398 34,839 45.20 42,236 54.80 3,197
Total for Commonwealth 2,760,216 2,033,251 961,601 49.33 987,611 50.67 81,558
Results Obtained majority in three states and an overall minority of 26,010 votes. Not carried

Discussion

The 1911 referendum asked a single question that dealt with trade and commerce, corporations and industrial matters. This resolution separated each of those matters into a different question. Like its forebear, none of these resolutions were carried. On each of the many occasions a similar question was asked at a referendum the public decided not to vest power in the Commonwealth over these matters.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Constitution Alteration (Industrial Matters) Bill". Retrieved 22 April 2019 – via legislation.gov.au.
  2. ↑ "Notification of the receipt of a Writ for a Referendum". Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. No. 30. 25 April 1913. pp. 1097–8 – via www.legislation.gov.au..
  3. ↑ "Result of the Referendum". Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. No. 55. 2 August 1913. p. 1792 – via www.legislation.gov.au.
  4. 1 2 Handbook of the 44th Parliament (2014) "Part 5 - Referendums and Plebiscites - Referendum results". Parliamentary Library of Australia.

Further reading

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