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Do you approve of the proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution entitled — "Constitution Alteration (Trade and Commerce) 1912" ? | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Constitution Alteration (Trade and Commerce) Bill 1912, [1] was an unsuccessful referendum held in 1913 that sought to alter the Australian Constitution to extend Commonwealth legislative power in respect to trade and commerce.
The "Yes" Case
The "No" Case
Do you approve of the proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution entitled 'Constitution Alteration (Trade and Commerce) 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:
- (i.) Trade and commerce
with other countries, and among the Statesbut not including trade and commerce upon railways the property of a State, except so far as it is trade and commerce with other countries or among the States:
The referendum was not approved by a majority of voters, and a majority of the voters was achieved in only three states. [3] [4]
| State | Electoral roll | Ballots issued | For | Against | Informal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | |||||
| New South Wales | 1,036,187 | 717,855 | 317,848 | 46.93 | 359,418 | 53.07 | 39,333 | |
| Victoria | 830,391 | 626,861 | 297,290 | 49.12 | 307,975 | 50.88 | 21,268 | |
| Queensland | 363,082 | 280,525 | 146,187 | 54.34 | 122,813 | 45.66 | 11,304 | |
| South Australia | 244,026 | 195,463 | 96,085 | 51.32 | 91,144 | 48.68 | 8,017 | |
| Western Australia | 179,784 | 132,149 | 66,349 | 52.86 | 59,181 | 47.14 | 6,286 | |
| Tasmania | 106,746 | 80,398 | 34,660 | 45.16 | 42,084 | 54.84 | 3,528 | |
| Total for Commonwealth | 2,760,216 | 2,033,251 | 958,419 | 49.38 | 982,615 | 50.62 | 89,736 | |
| Results | Obtained majority in three states and an overall minority of 24,196 votes.Not carried | |||||||
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