1967 New South Wales New England new state referendum

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1967 Australian creation of the New England state referendum
Flag of New South Wales.svg
29 April 1967 (1967-04-29)

Are you in favour of the establishment of a new State in north-east New South Wales described in schedule 1 to the New State Referendum Act, 1966 ?
Results
Choice
Votes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svg Yes168,10345.82%
Light brown x.svg No198,81254.18%
Valid votes366,91594.54%
Invalid or blank votes21,1945.46%
Total votes388,109100.00%

A referendum concerning the creation of a new state of New England from the northern area of New South Wales was put to voters on 29 April 1967.

Contents

Background

The first separatist agitation occurred during colonial times at the time of the separation of Queensland from NSW. While this was followed by outbreaks of agitation, these remained sporadic.

This changed in the twentieth century. Agitation began again at Grafton towards the end of the First World War led by Earle Page, a local doctor and later a prominent politician, rising to caretaker Prime Minister of Australia. This was picked up a little later by Victor Thompson, editor of the Tamworth Northern Daily Leader who launched a sustained newspaper campaign that involved papers as far south as Cessnock in the lower Hunter. This led to the creation of a formal movement. In 1922 a formal request to the Commonwealth was made by the lower house to establish a new state in northern New South Wales. [1] One outcome was the 1924 Cohen Royal Commission into New States.

The Cohen Commission ruled against to the movement and it went into decline, resurging at the start of the Great Depression. [2] This forced another Royal Commission, the Nicholas Commission. While this recommended in favour, [3] the movement was again in decline as economic conditions improved.

Agitation started again at the end of the Second World War and this time was sustained by permanent staff. In 1953, 21 councils defied the state government and held unofficial referendum on the issue of a new state. The people voted overwhelmingly in favour of the referendum. [4] In 1961 the movement launched Operation Seventh State, raising over AU£100,000. This allowed more staff and greater agitation.

This acceptance of boundaries determined by the Nicholas Commission proved to be the movement's critical strategic error. It assumed that a state was not viable unless it was dominated by a large urban population on the English/London model. Yet, the evidence from similar federations like Canada and the USA revealed numerous successful "farm states", like Wyoming, Montana and the Dakotas, with comparatively small capital city populations tied to a single, essentially rural community of interest. This metrocentric mindset ensured that two quite distinct communities of interest were being pressured into a doomed arranged marriage. It was also the very antithesis of an "act of free choice" as that choice involved imposing a majority rural will over a geographically distinct urban community. A new state proposal based in most part on boundaries formed by those Local Councils with majorities that actually wanted the change would have acquired a critical momentum.

Premier Robert Askin and the Cabinet believed in 1966 that a secession referendum would win, so they had the upper Hunter Region and Newcastle included within the boundaries of the proposed new state before putting it to a vote. [4]

The question

Are you in favour of the establishment of a new state in north-east New South Wales as described in Schedule One to the New State Referendum Act, 1966? [5]

The area included by the proposed new state comprised the

Results

The referendum rejected the proposed new state.

Result [6]
QuestionVotes %
Are you in favour of a new state  
in north-east NSW?
Yes  168,103 45.82
No 198,812 54.18
Total formal votes 388,109 94.54
Informal votes 21,194 5.46

See also

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References

  1. Totaro, Paola (28 July 2003). "History's lesson to the bush: if at first you don't secede, try, try again". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  2. "New States Royal Commission". State Archives and Records. Government of New South Wales. 6 April 1925. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
  3. "Royal Commission of Inquiry Respecting Areas in the State of New South Wales Suitable for Self-government as States in the Commonwealth of Australia". State Archives and Records. Government of New South Wales. 2 January 1935. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
  4. 1 2 "Altered states". The Sydney Morning Herald . 25 January 2005.
  5. "New state referendum Act, 1966. (30)". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales . 31 March 1967. p. 1027. Retrieved 26 October 2021 via Trove.
  6. "Referendum 29 April 1967". NSW Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 18 February 2011.