1946 Australian referendum (Marketing)

The Constitution Alteration (Organised Marketing of Primary Products) Bill 1946,[1] was an unsuccessful proposal to alter the Australian Constitution to give the Commonwealth explicit power to make laws for the organised marketing of primary products and to exempt it from the freedom of interstate trade requirement of section 92 of the constitution. It was put to voters for approval in a referendum held on 28 September 1946.

1946 Australian Marketing of Primary Products referendum
28 September 1946 (1946-09-28)
Do you approve of the proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution entitled —
"Constitution Alteration (Organised Marketing of Primary Products) 1946" ?
Voting system
  • A simple majority of voters nationwide.
  • A majority in 4 out of the 6 states.
OutcomeProposal rejected due to gaining a majority in only 3 of the 6 states.
Majority in each state.

Question

Do you approve of the proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution entitled "Constitution Alteration (Organised Marketing of Primary Products) 1946"?

The proposal was to insert into section 51 the following:

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:

...
(i.A.) Organized marketing of primary products;
...
(2.) The power of the Parliament to make laws under paragraph (i.A.) of the last preceding sub-section may be exercised notwithstanding anything contained in section ninety-two of this Constitution.[1]

Results
Result [2]
State Electoral roll Ballots issued For Against Informal
Vote  % Vote  %
New South Wales 1,858,749 1,757,150 855,233 51.83 794,852 48.17 107,065
Victoria 1,345,537 1,261,374 624,343 52.37 567,860 47.63 69,171
Queensland 660,316 612,170 251,672 43.74 323,678 56.26 36,820
South Australia 420,361 399,301 183,674 48.74 193,201 51.26 22,426
Western Australia 300,337 279,066 145,781 56.21 113,562 43.79 19,723
Tasmania 154,553 144,880 55,561 42.55 75,018 57.45 14,301
Armed forces [lower-alpha 1]   37,021 19,924 53.81 15,997 43.21 986
Total for Commonwealth 4,739,853 4,453,941 2,116,264 50.57 2,068,171 49.43 269,506
Results Obtained majority in three states and an overall majority of 48,093 votes. Not carried
  1. Armed forces totals are also included in their respective states.

Discussion

This was the third occasion in which the commonwealth sought power to enact legislative schemes for the marketing of agricultural produce, having been unsuccessful in 1937 and 1944.[2]

For a referendum to approve an amendment of the constitution, it must ordinarily achieve a double majority: approved by a majority of states (i.e., four of the six states) as well as a majority of those voting nationwide.[3] This was the second of five referendums (as of October 2021) to achieve an overall majority, but fail the requirement of a majority of states.[4]

See also

References
  1. Constitution Alteration (Organised Marketing of Primary Products) Bill 1946 (Cth).
  2. Handbook of the 44th Parliament (2014) "Part 5 - Referendums and Plebiscites - Referendum results". Parliamentary Library of Australia.
  3. Constitution (Cth) s 128 Mode of altering the Constitution.
  4. Handbook of the 44th Parliament (2014) "Part 5 - Referendums and Plebiscites - Constitutional referendums". Parliamentary Library of Australia.

Further reading
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