1967 Australian referendum

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The 1967 Australian referendum occurred on 27 May 1967 under the Holt government. It contained three topics asked about in two questions, regarding the passage of two bills to alter the Australian Constitution. [1]

Contents

The first question (Constitution Alteration (Parliament) Bill 1967) sought to increase the number of Members in the House of Representatives. [1] The second question (Constitution Alteration (Aboriginals) Bill 1967) related to Indigenous Australians (referred to as "the Aboriginal Race") and was in two parts: whether to give the Federal Government the power to make laws for Indigenous Australians in states, and whether in population counts for constitutional purposes to include all Indigenous Australians. [1] [2] [3]

Results [4]
Question NSW Vic Qld SA WA Tas States in favourVoters in favourResult
(25) Parliament YesNoNoNoNoNo1:540%Not carried
(26) Aboriginal people YesYesYesYesYesYes6:091%Carried


Results in detail

Parliament

This section is an excerpt from 1967 Australian referendum (Parliament) § Results
Result [4]
StateElectoral rollBallots issuedForAgainstInformal
Vote %Vote %
New South Wales2,315,8282,166,5071,087,69451.011,044,45848.9934,355
Victoria1,734,4761,630,594496,82630.871,112,50669.1321,262
Queensland904,808848,728370,20044.13468,67355.879,855
South Australia590,275560,844186,34433.91363,12066.0911,380
Western Australia437,609405,666114,84129.05280,52370.9510,302
Tasmania199,589189,24542,76423.06142,66076.943,821
Total for Commonwealth6,182,5855,801,5842,298,66940.253,411,94059.7590,975
ResultsObtained majority in one state and an overall minority of 1,113,271 votes.Not carried

Aboriginal people

This section is an excerpt from 1967 Australian referendum (Aboriginals) § Results
Result [4]
StateElectoral rollBallots issuedForAgainstInformal
Vote %Vote %
New South Wales2,315,8282,166,5071,949,03691.46182,0108.5435,461
Victoria1,734,4761,630,5941,525,02694.6885,6115.3219,957
Queensland904,808848,728748,61289.2190,58710.799,529
South Australia590,275560,844473,44086.2675,38313.7412,021
Western Australia437,609405,666319,82380.9575,28219.0510,561
Tasmania199,589189,245167,17690.2118,1349.793,935
Total for Commonwealth6,182,5855,801,5845,183,11390.77527,0079.2391,464
ResultsObtained majority in all six states and an overall majority of 4,656,106 votes.Carried

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Constitution Alteration (Parliament) 1967 and Constitution Alteration (Aboriginals) 1967 Referendums: The Arguments For and Against the Proposed Alterations Together with a Statement Showing the Proposed Alterations". Commonwealth of Australia. 1967. Retrieved 15 August 2020 via Austlii.
  2. Arcioni, Elisa (1 September 2012). "Excluding Indigenous Australians from 'The People': A Reconsideration of Sections 25 and 127 of the Constitution". Federal Law Review. 40 (3): 287–315. doi:10.22145/flr.40.3.1. S2CID   210774854. (2012) 40(3) Federal Law Review 287. ISSN   1444-6928. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  3. Thomas, Matthew (25 May 2017). "The 1967 Referendum". Parliament of Australia. Archived from the original on 27 May 2018. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 Handbook of the 44th Parliament (2014) "Part 5 - Referendums and Plebiscites - Referendum results". Parliamentary Library of Australia.

Further reading