1984 Australian referendum
The 1984 Australian referendum was held on 1 December 1984. It contained two referendum questions, neither of which passed.[1] As of 2022, this is the last referendum in which any state voted in favour of a constitutional amendment.
Question | NSW | Vic | Qld | SA | WA | Tas | ACT[3] | NT[3] | States in favour | Voters in favour | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(37) Terms of Senators | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | 2:4 | 51% | Not carried |
(38) Interchange of Powers | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | 0:6 | 47% | Not carried |
The referendum was held in conjunction with the 1984 federal election.
Results in detail
Terms of Senators
- This section is an excerpt from 1984 Australian referendum (Terms of Senators) § Results
An Act to change the terms of senators so that they are no longer of fixed duration and to provide that Senate elections and House of Representatives elections are always held on the same day.
Do you approve this proposed alteration?
State | Electoral roll | Ballots issued | For | Against | Informal | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Vote | % | Vote | % | |||||
New South Wales | 3,423,624 | 3,216,256 | 1,621,894 | 52.86 | 1,446,150 | 47.14 | 148,212 | |
Victoria | 2,617,291 | 2,475,891 | 1,244,451 | 53.20 | 1,094,760 | 46.80 | 136,680 | |
Queensland | 1,549,749 | 1,447,284 | 642,768 | 45.65 | 765,329 | 54.35 | 39,187 | |
South Australia | 908,424 | 856,226 | 398,127 | 49.98 | 398,463 | 50.02 | 59,636 | |
Western Australia | 858,763 | 806,637 | 358,502 | 46.47 | 412,996 | 53.53 | 35,139 | |
Tasmania | 289,142 | 277,100 | 102,762 | 39.29 | 158,777 | 60.71 | 15,561 | |
Australian Capital Territory | 150,416 | 140,982 | 76,901 | 56.68 | 58,764 | 43.32 | 5,317 | |
Northern Territory | 68,857 | 58,668 | 28,310 | 51.87 | 26,265 | 48.13 | 4,093 | |
Total for Commonwealth | 9,866,266 | 9,279,044 | 4,473,715 | 50.64 | 4,361,504 | 49.36 | 443,825 | |
Results | Obtained a majority in two states and an overall majority of 112,211 votes. Not carried |
Interchange of Powers
- This section is an excerpt from 1984 Australian referendum (Interchange of Powers) § Results
An Act to enable the Commonwealth and the States voluntarily to refer powers to each other.
Do you approve this proposed alteration?
State | Electoral roll | Ballots issued | For | Against | Informal | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Vote | % | Vote | % | |||||
New South Wales | 3,423,624 | 3,216,256 | 1,475,971 | 49.04 | 1,533,799 | 50.96 | 206,486 | |
Victoria | 2,617,291 | 2,475,891 | 1,139,565 | 49.86 | 1,146,136 | 50.14 | 190,190 | |
Queensland | 1,549,749 | 1,447,284 | 578,674 | 41.69 | 809,249 | 58.31 | 59,361 | |
South Australia | 908,424 | 856,226 | 355,588 | 45.94 | 418,433 | 54.06 | 82,205 | |
Western Australia | 858,763 | 806,637 | 336,184 | 44.28 | 423,022 | 55.72 | 47,431 | |
Tasmania | 289,142 | 277,100 | 87,933 | 34.65 | 165,878 | 65.35 | 23,289 | |
Australian Capital Territory | 150,416 | 140,982 | 74,741 | 56.10 | 58,487 | 43.90 | 7,754 | |
Northern Territory | 68,857 | 58,668 | 25,684 | 47.78 | 28,066 | 52.22 | 4,918 | |
Total for Commonwealth | 9,866,266 | 9,279,044 | 4,074,340 | 47.06 | 4,583,070 | 52.94 | 621,634 | |
Results | Obtained a majority in no state and an overall minority of 508,730 votes. Not carried |
See also
- Referendums in Australia
- Politics of Australia
- History of Australia
References
- ^ Lindell, Geoffrey; Bennett, R. L. (1 December 2001). Parliament: The Vision in Hindsight. Federation Press. pp. 235–. ISBN 9781862874060. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
- ^ a b c Handbook of the 44th Parliament (2014) "Part 5 - Referendums and Plebiscites - Referendum results". Parliamentary Library of Australia.
- ^ a b Following the 1977 referendum, votes cast in the territories count towards the national total, but are not counted toward any state total.
Further reading
- Select sources on constitutional change in Australia 1901-1997. Part 2 - History of Australian Referendums (PDF). Commonwealth of Australia. 24 March 1997. ISBN 0644484101.
- Bennett, Scott (2003). "Research Paper no. 11 2002–03: The Politics of Constitutional Amendment". Canberra: Parliamentary Library of Australia..
- Australian Electoral Commission (2007) Referendum Dates and Results 1906 – Present AEC, Canberra.
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