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'?
Proposed Changes to the Constitution The proposal was to alter the text of section 51 of the Constitution to read as follows:. (substituted text in bold) 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
37,928 Victoria 830,391 626,861 296,255 48.79 310,921
19,357 Queensland 363,082 280,525 146,521
123,859 45.81 9,924 South Australia 244,026 195,463 96,072
91,262 48.72 7,912 Western Australia 179,784 132,149 65,957
59,965 47.62 5,894 Tasmania 106,746 80,398 34,625 45.01 42,296
3,351 Total for Commonwealth 2,760,216 2,033,251 956,358 49.13 990,046
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
References
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.