1913 Australian referendum (Trusts)

The Constitution Alteration (Trusts) 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 trusts.

Question

Do you approve of the proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution entitled 'Constitution Alteration (Trusts) 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:

(xl.) Trusts, combinations, and monopolies in relation to the production, manufacture, or supply of goods, or the supply of services.

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
% %
New South Wales1,036,187 717,855 319,15047.12 358,155 52.8839,294 No
Victoria830,391626,861 301,72949.71 305,268 50.2919,536 No
Queensland363,082 280,525 147,87154.78 122,088 45.2210,345 Yes
South Australia244,026 195,463 96,40051.67 90,185 48.338,661 Yes
Western Australia179,784 132,149 67,34253.59 58,312 46.416,162 Yes
Tasmania106,74680,398 34,83945.38 41,935 54.623,498 No
Total for Commonwealth2,760,216 2,033,251 967,33149.78 975,943 50.2287,496 No
Obtained majority in three States and an overall minority of 8,612 votes.
Not carried

Discussion

The 1911 referendum asked a single question that dealt with the acquisition of monopolies. This resolution separated laws in relation to monopolies and the acquisition of monopolies into different questions. Like its forebear, neither resolution was 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 monopolies

See also

References
  1. "Constitution Alteration (Trusts) Bill 1912". Retrieved 22 April 2019 – via legislation.gov.au.
  2. "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..
  3. "Result of the Referendum". Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (55). 2 August 1913. p. 1792 – via www.legislation.gov.au..
  4. Handbook of the 44th Parliament (2014) "Part 5 - Referendums and Plebiscites - Referendum results". Parliamentary Library of Australia. Archived from the original on 29 September 2017..

Further reading
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