1984 Australian referendum

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The 1984 Australian referendum was held on 1 December 1984. It contained two referendum questions, neither of which passed.[1] As of 2022, this is the last referendum in which any state voted in favour of a constitutional amendment.

Result [2]
Question NSW Vic Qld SA WA Tas ACT[3] NT[3] States in favour Voters in favour Result
(37) Terms of Senators Yes Yes No No No No Yes Yes 2:4 51% Not carried
(38) Interchange of Powers No No No No No No Yes No 0:6 47% Not carried

The referendum was held in conjunction with the 1984 federal election.

Results in detail[edit]

Terms of Senators[edit]

This section is an excerpt from 1984 Australian referendum (Terms of Senators) § Results

An Act to change the terms of senators so that they are no longer of fixed duration and to provide that Senate elections and House of Representatives elections are always held on the same day.

Do you approve this proposed alteration?

Result [2]
State Electoral roll Ballots issued For Against Informal
Vote % Vote %
New South Wales 3,423,624 3,216,256 1,621,894 52.86 1,446,150 47.14 148,212
Victoria 2,617,291 2,475,891 1,244,451 53.20 1,094,760 46.80 136,680
Queensland 1,549,749 1,447,284 642,768 45.65 765,329 54.35 39,187
South Australia 908,424 856,226 398,127 49.98 398,463 50.02 59,636
Western Australia 858,763 806,637 358,502 46.47 412,996 53.53 35,139
Tasmania 289,142 277,100 102,762 39.29 158,777 60.71 15,561
Australian Capital Territory 150,416 140,982 76,901 56.68 58,764 43.32 5,317
Northern Territory 68,857 58,668 28,310 51.87 26,265 48.13 4,093
Total for Commonwealth 9,866,266 9,279,044 4,473,715 50.64 4,361,504 49.36 443,825
Results Obtained a majority in two states and an overall majority of 112,211 votes. Not carried

Interchange of Powers[edit]

This section is an excerpt from 1984 Australian referendum (Interchange of Powers) § Results

An Act to enable the Commonwealth and the States voluntarily to refer powers to each other.

Do you approve this proposed alteration?

Result [2]
State Electoral roll Ballots issued For Against Informal
Vote % Vote %
New South Wales 3,423,624 3,216,256 1,475,971 49.04 1,533,799 50.96 206,486
Victoria 2,617,291 2,475,891 1,139,565 49.86 1,146,136 50.14 190,190
Queensland 1,549,749 1,447,284 578,674 41.69 809,249 58.31 59,361
South Australia 908,424 856,226 355,588 45.94 418,433 54.06 82,205
Western Australia 858,763 806,637 336,184 44.28 423,022 55.72 47,431
Tasmania 289,142 277,100 87,933 34.65 165,878 65.35 23,289
Australian Capital Territory 150,416 140,982 74,741 56.10 58,487 43.90 7,754
Northern Territory 68,857 58,668 25,684 47.78 28,066 52.22 4,918
Total for Commonwealth 9,866,266 9,279,044 4,074,340 47.06 4,583,070 52.94 621,634
Results Obtained a majority in no state and an overall minority of 508,730 votes. Not carried

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Lindell, Geoffrey; Bennett, R. L. (1 December 2001). Parliament: The Vision in Hindsight. Federation Press. pp. 235–. ISBN 9781862874060. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  2. ^ a b c Handbook of the 44th Parliament (2014) "Part 5 - Referendums and Plebiscites - Referendum results". Parliamentary Library of Australia.
  3. ^ a b Following the 1977 referendum, votes cast in the territories count towards the national total, but are not counted toward any state total.

Further reading[edit]

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