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Are you in favour of the provisions of "Wrest Point Casino Licence and Development Act, 1968", the full text of which has been published in the newspapers? | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Tasmanian casino referendum was a one-question referendum held on 14 December 1968, which concerned the granting of Australia's first casino licence to the Federal Group to operate the Wrest Point Hotel Casino in Sandy Bay.
The Wrest Point Riviera hotel was purchased by the Federal Group in the 1960s, and the new owners approached Premier Eric Reece about the prospect of the Tasmanian government granting a licence to create an entertainment complex and convention centre that would contain a small casino on the premises, [1] citing that it would attract tourists during Tasmania's traditional winter "tourist slump". Reece agreed that a casino would be a tourism attraction in Tasmania Reece and together with health minister Merv Everett began to promote the development. Despite a vigorous campaign there was considerable opposition to the casino bill when it was introduced to parliament on 4 October 1968 as no casino licence had been granted in Australia before. Two weeks later The Mercury newspaper reported the bill was likely to be lost by one or two votes. Reece and Everett then withdrew the bill and on 31 October 1968 announced a referendum would take place to decide the issue. [2]
The legislation to permit the referendum was itself highly contentious and did not pass parliament until 21 November 1968, after which the date of the referendum was set to be three weeks later on 14 December. With the vote on a knife's edge, it is alleged that the government deliberately proposed a question that was opaque. The question put to the people was:
Are you in favour of the provisions of "Wrest Point Casino Licence and Development Act, 1968", the full text of which has been published in the newspapers?" [2]
Despite having a vote on the bill scheduled in December, and with the campaigning already underway, the state Labor government, realising they had the numbers on the floor of the parliament, brought the bill to a vote on 6 November 1968. After a non-stop thirty-hour debate and with the vocal opponent Mac Le Fevre overseas and not paired, the bill passed at 5am on 8 November 1968. [2]
In effect, the electorate was being asked to vote on a bill that had already been passed.
| State | Electoral roll | Valid votes | For | Against | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vote | % | Vote | % | |||
| Bass | 40,472 | 34,989 | 16,622 | 47.51 | 18,367 | 52.49 |
| Braddon | 42,420 | 37,189 | 18,453 | 49.62 | 18,736 | 50.38 |
| Denison | 43,529 | 38,814 | 22,407 | 57.73 | 16,407 | 42.27 |
| Franklin | 38,248 | 34,838 | 20,856 | 59.85 | 13,982 | 40.13 |
| Wilmot | 41,475 | 36,871 | 18,501 | 50.18 | 18,370 | 49.82 |
| Total | 206,144 | 182,701 | 96,839 | 53.00 | 85,862 | 47.00 |
The referendum passed by a margin of 6%, although the bill had already passed in October that year, granting the licence to the Federal Group. There was considerable opposition to the casino, and concern over the fact that a monopoly licence was awarded to Federal Hotels without any call for a tender. [4]
The Wrest Point Hotel Casino was completed and opened in 1973.
In 1985, the casino introduced poker machines, to much opposition. The pokies have since spread around the state. [1]
James Alexander Bacon, AC was an Australian politician who served as Premier of Tasmania from 1998 to 2004.
The history of Tasmania begins at the end of the most recent ice age when it is believed that the island was joined to the Australian mainland. Little is known of the human history of the island until the British colonisation in the 19th century.
Paul Anthony Lennon is a Labor Party politician. He was Premier of Tasmania from 21 March 2004 until his resignation on 26 May 2008. He was member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly for the seat of Franklin from 1990 until officially resigning on 27 May 2008. He left office abruptly after his preferred premier rating fell to 17%, largely as a result of perceptions of corruption in his government's fast-tracked approval of the Gunns Bell Bay Pulp Mill proposal, which had effectively bypassed normal planning procedure.
The Wrest Point Hotel Casino is a casino in Tasmania. It was Australia's first legal casino, opening in the suburb of Sandy Bay in Hobart, on 10 February 1973.
Referendums have been held in Australia to approve parliament-proposed changes to the Constitution of Australia or to the constitutions of states and territories.
Federal Group is a privately owned family company which operates tourism, hospitality, retail, and a national sensitive freight company but are primarily known for their casino and gaming assets in Tasmania which is described as a "a licence to print money". In the past the company has been known as both "Federal Hotels" or "Federal Hotels and Resorts".
Douglas Ackley Lowe AM was the 35th Premier of Tasmania, from 1 December 1977 to 11 November 1981. His time as Premier coincided with controversy over a proposal to build a dam on Tasmania's Gordon River, which would have flooded parts of the Franklin River. The ensuing crisis saw Lowe overthrown as Premier and resign from the Labor Party, acting as an independent for the remainder of his political career.
Eric Elliott Reece, AC was Premier of Tasmania on two occasions: from 26 August 1958 to 26 May 1969, and from 3 May 1972 to 31 March 1975. His 13 years as premier remains the second longest in Tasmania's history, Only Robert Cosgrove has served for a longer period as premier. Reece was the first Premier of Tasmania to have been born in the 20th century.
Kevin Orchard Lyons was an Australian politician and member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly representing the seat of Darwin.
The 1972 Tasmanian state election was held on 22 April 1972 in the Australian state of Tasmania to elect 35 members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly. The election used the Hare-Clark proportional representation system — seven members were elected from each of five electorates.
The Tasmanian power referendum was a one-question referendum held on 12 December 1981, and intended to determine the location of a proposed hydroelectricity dam to be built on the Gordon River in Tasmania, Australia.
The Tasmanian AFL bid refers to several Australian rules football teams that have proposed to eventually join the Australian Football League (AFL) and the AFL Women's (AFLW). Proposals have been made on several occasions since the expansion of the Victorian Football League into an Australia-wide competition started in 1987.
The 2010 Tasmanian state election was held on 20 March 2010 to elect members to the Tasmanian House of Assembly. The 12-year incumbent Labor government, led by Premier of Tasmania David Bartlett, won a fourth consecutive term against the Liberal opposition, led by Will Hodgman, after Labor formed a minority government with the support of the Greens.
Country Club Tasmania is a casino in Launceston, Tasmania, owned by Federal Hotels. It is Tasmania's second casino. It is also used for a variety of local events and is home to an 18-hole golf course. Targa Tasmania uses the casino as a starting point for the race.
Rebecca Peta White is an Australian politician. She has been the Leader of the Opposition in Tasmania and Leader of the Parliamentary Labor Party in Tasmania since July 2021, having previously served in that role from March 2017 until May 2021. She has been a member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly in the electorate of Lyons since the 2010 state election. Before she was leader, White served as Shadow Minister for Health and Human Services, and Opposition Spokesperson for Children.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the Australian state of Tasmania have the same legal rights as non-LGBT residents. Tasmania has a transformative history with respect to the rights of LGBT people. Initially dubbed "Bigots Island" by international media due to intense social and political hostility to LGBT rights up until the late 1990s, the state has subsequently been recognised for LGBT law reforms that have been described by activists such as Rodney Croome as among the most extensive and noteworthy in the world. Tasmania imposed the harshest penalties in the Western world for homosexual activity until 1997, when it was the last Australian jurisdiction to decriminalise homosexuality after a United Nations Human Rights Committee ruling, the passage of federal sexual privacy legislation and a High Court challenge to the state's anti-homosexuality laws. Following decriminalisation, social and political attitudes in the state rapidly shifted in favour of LGBT rights ahead of national trends with strong anti-LGBT discrimination laws passed in 1999, and the first state relationship registration scheme to include same-sex couples introduced in 2003. In 2019, Tasmania passed and implemented the world's most progressive gender-optional birth certificate laws.
Secessionism in Tasmania has been proposed several times throughout Tasmania's history.
The 2021 Tasmanian state election was held on 1 May 2021 to elect all 25 members to the Tasmanian House of Assembly.
The Australian Labor Party , commonly known as Tasmanian Labor, is the Tasmanian branch of the Australian Labor Party. It has been one of the most successful state Labor parties in Australia in terms of electoral success.
Tasmania has been notable in the history of gambling in Australia.
 Elections and referendums in Tasmania | |
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| General elections | |
| Legislative Council elections | |
| Referendums | |
