26 April 1911
(4) Trade and Commerce; (5) Nationalisation of Monopolies

Question 1

Do you approve of the proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution entitled ‘Constitution Alteration (Legislative Powers) 1910’?

Constitution Alteration (Legislative Powers) 1910 sought to extend the Commonwealth Parliament’s powers over trade and commerce, the control of corporations, labour and employment, and combinations and monopolies. All of the proposed changes were contained within one question.

Australia. Referendum, 1911. Question 1

#	State	Number on rolls	Ballot papers issued	For (V)	%	Against (V)	%	Informal
1	New South Wales	868 194	384 188	135 968	36.11	240 605	63.89	7 396
2	Victoria	723 377	448 566	170 288	38.64	270 390	61.36	7 554
3	Queensland	293 003	162 135	69 552	43.75	89 420	56.25	3 002
4	South Australia	216 027	133 802	50 358	38.07	81 904	61.93	1 374
5	Western Australia	138 697	61 482	33 043	54.86	27 185	45.14	870
6	Tasmania	102 326	58 053	24 147	42.11	33 200	57.89	673
7	Total for Commonwealth	2 341 624	1 248 226	483 356	39.42	742 704	60.58	20 869

Obtained majority in one State and an overall minority of 259 348 votes.
Not carried

Question 2

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

Constitution Alteration (Monopolies) 1910 sought to give the Commonwealth Parliament power to nationalise any industry declared by both Houses of Parliament to be the subject of a monopoly.

Australia. Referendum, 1911. Question 2

#	State	Number on rolls	Ballot papers issued	For (V)	%	Against (V)	%	Informal
1	New South Wales	868 194	384 188	138 237	36.72	238 177	63.28	7 618
2	Victoria	723 377	448 566	171 453	38.95	268 743	61.05	8 041
3	Queensland	293 003	162 135	70 259	44.26	88 472	55.74	3 200
4	South Australia	216 027	133 802	50 835	38.42	81 479	61.58	1 344
5	Western Australia	138 697	61 482	33 592	55.84	26 561	44.16	898
6	Tasmania	102 326	58 053	24 292	42.43	32 960	57.57	753
7	Total for Commonwealth	2 341 624	1 248 226	488 668	39.89	736 392	60.11	21 854

Obtained majority in one State and an overall minority of 247 724 votes.
Not carried