There have been 18 referendums in New South Wales, 8 of which concerned proposals to amend the New South Wales Constitution, half of which concerned the Legislative Council. While the Constitution of Australia was adopted after the 1898 and 1899 referendums in all of the proposed states, the constitution of New South Wales, promulgated in 1902, was an Act of the Parliament of New South Wales which could be amended by parliament. Since 1927 the constitution has included provisions that can only be amended following approval in a referendum.[1] 8 of the referendums, including 5 on the sale of alcohol, did not involve any proposed amendment to the constitution.[2] While these have traditionally been called referendums, they could also be described as plebiscites.[3]

Alteration of the Constitution

The Constitution Act 1902 as made in 1902 was an act of the New South Wales Parliament. In contrast to the Constitution of Australia it was not approved by a referendum and did not contain any provision requiring a referendum to alter it. In 1929 the parliament passed an amendment to the Constitution Act which inserted section 7A, requiring a referendum before the Legislative Council could be abolished.[4] In 1930 Labor MLCs put forward two bills, one to repeal section 7A, the other to abolish the Council. Believing that a referendum was necessary before the bills could become law, the Legislative Council permitted the bills to pass without a division on 10 December. The validity of section 7A and the inability to repeal the section without a referendum were upheld by the Supreme Court on 23 December 1930,[5] a majority of the High Court on 16 March 1931,[6] and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council on 31 May 1932.[7]

List of referendums

Results of referendums [8]
Year # Name Option Amend
Constitution 		Yes % [a]   No %[b] Ref
1898 Federation of Australia [c] 51.95 48.53 [9]
1899 Federation of Australia 56.49 43.51 [9]
1903 1 Number of Members of the Legislative Assembly Reduce to 90 Red XN 72.95 17.05 [10][11]
1916 2 Licensed premises closing hour 6 pm Red XN 62.18 37.82 [12]
1928 3 Prohibition with compensation Red XN 28.74 71.26 [13]
1933 4 Reform the Legislative Council Green tickY 51.47 48.53 [14]
1947 5 Licensed premises and clubs closing hour 6 pm Red XN 62.46 37.54 [15][16]
1954 6 Licensed premises and clubs closing hour 10 pm Red XN 50.27 49.73 [17][18]
1961 7 Abolish the Legislative Council Green tickY 42.42 57.58 [19]
1967 8 New England new state [d] Red XN 45.82 54.18 [20]
1969 9 Sunday trading for hotels Red XN 42.03 57.97 [21]
1976 10 Daylight saving Red XN 68.41 32.59 [22]
1978 11 Election of Legislative Council Green tickY 84.81 15.19 [23]
1981 12 4 year terms Green tickY 69.04 30.96 [24]
13 Disclosure of pecuniary interests Green tickY 86.01 13.99 [24]
1991 14 Reduce size of Legislative Council Green tickY 57.73 42.27 [25]
1995 15 Fixed terms of parliament Green tickY 75.48 24.52 [26]
16 Judicial independence Green tickY 65.90 34.10 [26]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Where there are options, this is the percentage for the option with the highest number of votes.
  2. ^ Where there are options, this is the percentage for all other options.
  3. ^ The enabling legislation in New South Wales required a minimum of 80,000 votes in support, however there were only 71,595 support votes.[9]
  4. ^ the referendum was limited to electors in the proposed new state.

References

  1. ^ "The Constitution of New South Wales". Parliament.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  2. ^ "Referendums in New South Wales". Parliament.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  3. ^ Antony Green (12 August 2015). "Plebiscite or Referendum – What's the Difference". ABC News. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  4. ^ "Constitution (Legislative Council) Amendment Act 1929 No 28 (NSW)". NSW Legislation. NSW Parliamentary Counsel's Office.
  5. ^ Trethowan v Peden [1930] NSWStRp 90, (1930) 31 SR (NSW) 183 (23 December 1930), Supreme Court (Full Court).
  6. ^ Attorney-General (New South Wales) v Trethowan [1931] HCA 3, (1931) 44 CLR 394, High Court.
  7. ^ Attorney-General (New South Wales) v Trethowan [1932] UKPC 1, [1932] AC 526; [1932] UKPCHCA 1, (1932) 47 CLR 97, Privy Council (on appeal from Australia)
  8. ^ "Results of referendums in New South Wales". Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  9. ^ a b c "Federation Fact Sheet 1 – The Referendums 1898–1900". Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  10. ^ "Result of the referendum (25)". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. 12 January 1904. p. 341. Retrieved 7 December 2019 – via Trove.
  11. ^ "Referendum 16 December 1903". NSW Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 18 February 2011.
  12. ^ "Referendum 10 June 1916". NSW Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 18 February 2011.
  13. ^ "Referendum 1 September 1928". NSW Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 18 February 2011.
  14. ^ "Referendum 13 May 1933". NSW Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 18 February 2011.
  15. ^ "Liquor (Amendment) Act, 1946 (39)". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. 21 March 1947. p. 650. Retrieved 25 October 2021 – via Trove.
  16. ^ "Referendum 15 February 1947". NSW Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 18 February 2011.
  17. ^ "Liquor (Amendment) Act, 1954". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 201. 10 December 1954. p. 3763. Retrieved 25 October 2021 – via Trove.
  18. ^ "Referendum 13 November 1954". NSW Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 18 February 2011.
  19. ^ "Referendum 29 April 1961". NSW Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 18 February 2011.
  20. ^ "Referendum 29 April 1967". NSW Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 18 February 2011.
  21. ^ "Referendum 29 November 1969". NSW Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 18 February 2011.
  22. ^ "Daylight Saving (Referendum) Act 1975 (72)". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. 28 May 1976. p. 2263. Retrieved 28 October 2021 – via Trove.
  23. ^ "Referendum 17 June 1978". NSW Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 18 February 2011.
  24. ^ a b "Referendum 19 September 1981". NSW Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 18 February 2011.
  25. ^ "Referendum 25 May 1991". NSW Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 18 February 2011.
  26. ^ a b "Referendum 25 March 1995". NSW Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 18 February 2011.
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