13 December 1919

(12) Legislative Powers; (13) Nationalisation of Monopolies

Question 1

Do you approve of the proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution entitled ‘Constitution Alteration (Legislative Powers) 1919’?

Constitution Alteration (Legislative Powers) 1919 sought to give the Commonwealth Parliament a temporary extension of its legislative powers in regard to trade and commerce, corporations, industrial matters and trusts.

Australia. Referendum, 1919. Question 1

#	State	Number on rolls	Ballot papers issued	For (V)	%	Against (V)	%	Informal
1	New South Wales	1 079 439	717 565	259 751	39.95	390 450	60.05	67 132
2	Victoria	837 408	638 098	369 210	64.65	201 869	35.35	66 227
3	Queensland	389 200	330 231	175 225	57.35	130 299	42.65	24 397
4	South Australia	268 235	178 092	40 520	25.28	119 789	74.72	17 656
5	Western Australia	163 544	103 235	48 142	51.75	44 892	48.25	9 854
6	Tasmania	112 036	65 716	18 509	33.43	36 861	66.57	10 128
7	Total for Commonwealth	2 849 862	2 032 937	911 357	49.65	924 160	50.35	195 394

Obtained majority in three States and an overall minority of 12 803 votes.
Not carried

Question 2

Do you approve of the proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution entitled ‘Constitution Alteration (Nationalisation of Monopolies) 1919’?

Constitution Alteration (Nationalisation of Monopolies) 1919 sought to give the Commonwealth Parliament power to make laws with respect to monopolies.

Australia. Referendum, 1919. Question 2

#	State	Number on rolls	Ballot papers issued	For (V)	%	Against (V)	%	Informal
1	New South Wales	1 079 439	717 565	227 156	38.31	365 847	61.69	124 330
2	Victoria	837 408	638 098	324 343	63.29	188 129	36.71	124 834
3	Queensland	389 200	330 231	162 062	56.92	122 650	43.08	45 209
4	South Australia	268 235	178 092	38 503	25.54	112 259	74.46	27 203
5	Western Australia	163 544	103 235	45 285	53.99	38 584	46.01	19 019
6	Tasmania	112 036	65 716	16 531	34.08	31 982	65.92	16 985
7	Total for Commonwealth	2 849 862	2 032 937	813 880	48.64	859 451	51.36	357 580

Obtained majority in three States and an overall minority of 45 571 votes.
Not carried