1911 Australian referendum (Monopolies) explained

The Constitution Alteration (Monopolies) Bill 1910,^[1] was put to voters for approval in a referendum held in 1911 that 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:^[2]

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

Result

width:180px" rowspan="2"	State	width:70px" align=center rowspan="2"	Electoral roll	width:70px" align=center rowspan="2"	Ballots issued	width:140px" align=center colspan="2"	For	width:140px" align=center colspan="2"	Against	width:70px" align=center rowspan="2"	Informal
width:70px" align=center	Vote	width:70px" align=center	%	width:70px" align=center	Vote	width:70px" align=center	%
New South Wales	868,194	384,188	138,237	36.72	238,177		7,618
Victoria	723,377	448,566	171,453	38.95	268,743		8,041
Queensland	293,003	162,135	70,259	44.26	88,472		3,200
South Australia	216,027	133,802	50,835	38.42	81,479		1,344
Western Australia	138,697	61,482	33,592		26,561	44.16	898
Tasmania	102,326	58,053	24,292	42.43	32,960		753
Total for Commonwealth	noWrap align="right"	2,341,624	noWrap align="right"	1,248,226	noWrap align="right"	488,668	noWrap align="middle"	39.89	noWrap align="right"	736,392		noWrap align="right"	21,854
Results	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

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.
• 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.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Constitution Alteration (Monopolies) Bill 1910 . www.legislation.gov.au . 22 April 2019.
2. Web site: Notification of the receipt of a Writ for a Referendum . PDF . Commonwealth of Australia Gazette . www.legislation.gov.au . 19 March 1911 . 17 . 761.