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1911 Australian referendum (Trade and Commerce)

Field	Value
name	1911 Australian Trade and Commerce referendum
date
country	Australia
yes	483,356
no	742,704
invalid	20,869
electorate	2,341,624
outcome	Amendment Failed
question	Do you approve of the proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution entitled —
"Constitution Alteration (Legislative Powers) 1910" ?

"Constitution Alteration (Legislative Powers) 1910" ?}}

The Constitution Alteration (Legislative Powers) Bill 1910, was put to voters for approval in a referendum held in the 1911 referendums. The bill 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 (Legislative Powers) 1910'?

Proposed Changes to the Constitution

The proposal was to alter the text of section 51 of the Constitution to read as follows (removed text stricken through; substituted text in bold):

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: :(i.) Trade and commerce with other countries, and among the States; :... :(xx.) Foreign corporations, and trading or financial corporations formed within the limits of the Commonwealth: ::**Corporations, including** :::**(a) the creation, dissolution, regulation, and control of corporations;** :::**(b) corporations formed under the law of a State (except any corporation formed solely for religious, charitable, scientific or artistic purposes, and not for the acquisition of gain by the corporation or its members), including their dissolution, regulation, and control; and** :::**(c) foreign corporations, including their regulation and control:** :... :(xxxv.) Conciliation and arbitration for the prevention and settlement of industrial disputes extending beyond the limits of any one State: ::**Labour and employment, including** :::**(a) the wages and conditions of labour and employment in any trade industry or calling; and** :::**(b) the prevention and settlement of industrial disputes, including disputes in relation to employment on or about railways the property of any State':** :... :**(xl.) Combinations and monopolies in relation to the production, manufacture, or supply of goods or services.**

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	Electoral roll	Ballots issued	For	Against	Informal	Vote
868,194	384,188	135,968	36.11	240,605		7,396
723,377	448,566	170,288	38.64	270,390		7,554
293,003	162,135	69,552	43.75	89,420		3,002
216,027	133,802	50,358	38.07	81,904		1,374
138,697	61,482	33,043		27,185	45.14	870
102,326	58,053	24,147	42.11	33,200		673
2,341,624	1,248,226	483,356	39.42	742,704		20,869
Obtained majority in one state and an overall minority of 259,348 votes. Not carried.

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
1919 referendum on trade and commerce, corporations, industrial matters and trusts.
1926 referendum on Industry and Commerce.

References

"Constitution Alteration (Legislative Powers) Bill 1910".
(19 March 1911). "Notification of the receipt of a Writ for a Referendum". Commonwealth of Australia Gazette.
{{cite AustLII. (1909). CLR. Commonwealth Law Reports 330]

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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