Australian referendum, 1911 (Monopolies)

Constitution Alteration (Monopolies) 1910 was an Australian referendum held in the 1911 referendums which sought to alter the Australian Constitution to give the Commonwealth power to nationalise any corporation deemed by both houses of parliament to be a monopoly.

Question

Do you approve of the proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution entitled 'Constitution Alteration (Monopolies) 1910'?

The proposal was to add section 51a to the Constitution to read as follows:^[1]

51a. When each House of the Parliament, in the same session, has by Resolution declared that the industry or business of producing manufacturing or supplying any specified goods, or of supplying any specified services, is the subject of a monopoly, the Parliament shall have power to make laws for carrying on the industry or business by or under the control of the Commonwealth, and acquiring for that purpose on just terms any property used in connexion with the industry or business.

Results

The referendum was not approved by a majority of voters, and a majority of the voters was achieved in only one state, Western Australia.^[2][3]

Result

State	On rolls	Ballots issued	For		Against		Informal	Result
				%		%
New South Wales	868,194	384,188	138,237	%36.72	238,177	%63.28	7,618	No
Victoria	723,377	448,566	171,453	%38.95	268,743	%61.05	8,041	No
Queensland	293,003	162,135	70,259	%44.26	88,472	%55.74	3,200	No
South Australia	216,027	133,802	50,835	%38.42	81,479	%61.58	1,344	No
Western Australia	138,697	61,482	33,592	%55.84	26,561	%44.16	898	Yes
Tasmania	102,326	58,053	24,292	%42.43	32,960	%57.57	753	No
Total for Commonwealth	2,341,624	1,248,226	488,668	%39.89	736,392	%60.11	21,854	No
Obtained majority in one State and an overall minority of 247,724 votes.
Not carried

Discussion

This was the first of many times that similar questions were asked at a referendum. On every occasion the public decided not to vest power in the government over monopolies.

See also

• Politics of Australia
• History of Australia

References

1. "Notification of the receipt of a Writ for a Referendum" (PDF). Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. 19 March 1911. p. 761 – via www.legislation.gov.au..
2. "Result of the Referendum" (PDF). Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (49). 21 June 1911. p. 1580 – via www.legislation.gov.au..
3. Handbook of the 44th Parliament "Part 5 - Referendums and Plebiscites - Referendum results". Parliamentary Library of Australia. 1 August 2014..

Further reading

• Standing Committee on Legislative and Constitutional Affairs (1997) Constitutional Change: Select sources on Constitutional change in Australia 1901–1997. Australian Government Printing Service, Canberra.
• Handbook of the 44th Parliament (2014) "Part 5 - Referendums and Plebiscites". Parliamentary Library of Australia.
• Bennett, Scott (2003). Research Paper no. 11 2002–03: The Politics of Constitutional Amendment Australian Department of the Parliamentary Library, Canberra.
• Australian Electoral Commission (2007) Referendum Dates and Results 1906 – Present AEC, Canberra.