1913 Australian referendum (Railway Disputes)

1913 Australian Railway Disputes referendum

31 May 1913 (1913-05-31)
Do you approve of the proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution entitled — "Constitution Alteration (Railway Disputes) 1912" ?
Results
Choice Votes % Yes 956,358 49.13% No 990,046 50.87% Valid votes 1,946,404 95.85% Invalid or blank votes 84,366 4.15% Total votes 2,030,770 100.00% Registered voters/turnout 2,760,216 73.57%

The Constitution Alteration (Railways Disputes) Bill 1912  was an unsuccessful referendum held in 1913 that sought to alter the Australian Constitution to give the Commonwealth legislative power over industrial relations in the state railway services. The question was put to a referendum in the 1913 Australian referendum.

Question

Do you approve of the proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution entitled 'Constitution Alteration (Railway Disputes) 1912'?

The proposal was to alter the text of section 51 of the Constitution to read as follows:

51. The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have Legislative power to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to:

(xxxv.A.) Conciliation and arbitration for prevention and settlement of industrial disputes in relation to employment in the railway service of a State.

Results

The referendum was not approved by a majority of voters, and a majority of the voters was achieved in only three states.

Result 

State	Electoral roll	Ballots issued	For		Against		Informal
			Vote	%	Vote	%
New South Wales	1,036,187	717,855	316,928	46.70	361,743	53.30	37,928
Victoria	830,391	626,861	296,255	48.79	310,921	51.21	19,357
Queensland	363,082	280,525	146,521	54.19	123,859	45.81	9,924
South Australia	244,026	195,463	96,072	51.28	91,262	48.72	7,912
Western Australia	179,784	132,149	65,957	52.38	59,965	47.62	5,894
Tasmania	106,746	80,398	34,625	45.01	42,296	54.99	3,351
Total for Commonwealth	2,760,216	2,033,251	956,358	49.13	990,046	50.87	84,366
Results	Obtained majority in three states and an overall minority of 33,688 votes. Not carried

Discussion

The 1911 referendum asked a single question that dealt with trade and commerce, corporations and industrial matters. This was an additional resolution that went beyond the previous proposal to directly address industrial disputes in the state railways. Like its forebear, none of these resolutions were carried. On each of the many occasions a similar question was asked at a referendum the public decided not to vest power in the Commonwealth over these matters.

• 1911 referendum on trade and commerce

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.