1913 Australian referendum (Industrial Matters)

The Constitution Alteration (Industrial Matters) Bill 1912,[1] was an unsuccessful Australian referendum held in the 1913 referendums which 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

The referendum was not approved by a majority of voters, and a majority of the voters was achieved in only three states.[3][4]

Result
State	On rolls	Ballots issued	For		Against		Informal	Result
State	On rolls	Ballots issued		%		%	Informal	Result
New South Wales	1,036,187	717,855	318,622	46.88	361,044	53.12	36,933	No
Victoria	830,391	626,861	297,892	49.02	309,804	50.98	18,837	No
Queensland	363,082	280,525	147,171	54.36	123,554	45.64	9,579	Yes
South Australia	244,026	195,463	96,626	51.40	91,361	48.60	7,259	Yes
Western Australia	179,784	132,149	66,451	52.71	59,612	47.29	5,753	Yes
Tasmania	106,746	80,398	34,839	45.20	42,236	54.80	3,197	No
Total for Commonwealth	2,760,216	2,033,251	961,601	49.33	987,611	50.67	81,558	No
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]

1911 referendum on trade and commerce

References

"Constitution Alteration (Industrial Matters) Bill". Retrieved 22 April 2019 – via legislation.gov.au.
"Notification of the receipt of a Writ for a Referendum". Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (30). 25 April 1913. pp. 1097–8 – via www.legislation.gov.au..
"Result of the Referendum". Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (55). 2 August 1913. p. 1792 – via www.legislation.gov.au..
Handbook of the 44th Parliament (2014) "Part 5 - Referendums and Plebiscites - Referendum results". Parliamentary Library of Australia..

Elections and referendums in Australia
Federal elections	1901 1903 1906 1910 1913 1914 1917 1919 1922 1925 1928 1929 1931 1934 1937 1940 1943 1946 1949 1951 1953 1954 1955 1958 1961 1963 1964 1966 1967 1969 1970 1972 1974 1975 1977 1980 1983 1984 1987 1990 1993 1996 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016 2019 Next by-elections
Referendums	1906 1910 1911 1913 1916 1917 1919 1926 1928 1937 1944 1946 1948 1951 1967 1973 1974 1977 1984 1988 1999 2017
Elections in: Australian Capital Territory New South Wales Northern Territory Queensland South Australia Tasmania Victoria Western Australia