1981 New South Wales referendum 4 year terms Pecuniary interests Yes 69% 86% No 31% 14%
The 1981 New South Wales referendum was held on 19 September 1981, the same day as the state election. The referendum contained two questions: Do you approve a Bill for an Act to extend the maximum period between general elections for the Legislative Assembly from 3 years to 4 years? Do you approve a Bill for an Act to require Members of Parliament to disclose certain pecuniary interests and other matters? __NOTOC__
Amendments to the constitution The primary change by the proposal to extend the maximum term was to alter section 7B of the Constitution Act 1902 to provide for a maximum term of 4 years rather than 3.
The proposal to require Members of Parliament to disclose pecuniary interests was to add section 14A to the Constitution Act 1902 which provided that the Governor could make regulations requiring members of parliament to disclose their pecuniary interests; the relevant house of parliament could declare a seat vacant if the member wilfully contravened any regulation; and the regulations could only be disallowed by both houses of parliament.
Results Both questions were approved with large majorities. + Result Question Votes % 4 year terms Yes 1,951,455 No 874,944 30.96 Total Formal 2,826,399 96.53 Informal 101,528 3.47 Pecuniary interests No 388,791 13.99 Yes 2,391,036 Total Formal 2,779,827 94.94 Informal 148,100 5.06 TurnoutBased on a roll of 3,212,017: 2,927,927 91.16
See also Referendums in New South Wales Referendums in Australia 2016 Queensland term length referendum 1991 Queensland four year terms referendum
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