Australian referendum, 1913 (Trade and Commerce)

The Constitution Alteration (Trade and Commerce) 1912 was an Australian referendum held in the 1913 referendums which sought to alter the Australian Constitution to extend Commonwealth legislative power in respect to trade and commerce.

Issues

The 'Yes' Case

The trade and commerce power is the keystone of the powers of the federal parliament. The present limitation to inter-state trade and commerce paralyses the parliament's action in almost every direction.
The present division of the trade and commerce power between federation and states is artificial, indefinite, illogical and mischievous.
Trade and commerce are national matters and state laws are not adequate.

The 'No' Case

If passed, this proposal will vest in the federal government the control of all business within the Commonwealth. This will mean that the centralised government will dominate all trade and commerce, including that which is carried on within state borders.
The proposal will lead to a great deal of legal uncertainty and will no doubt be challenged in the High Court.
The new power will enable the federal parliament to pass legislation which will profoundly disturb trade and commerce within the states.

Question

Do you approve of the proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution entitled 'Constitution Alteration (Trade and Commerce) 1912'?

The proposal was to alter the text of section 51 of the Constitution to read as follows:^[1]

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.) Trade and commerce ~~with other countries, and among the States~~ but not including trade and commerce upon railways the property of a State, except so far as it is trade and commerce with other countries or among the States:

Results

The referendum was not approved by a majority of voters, and a majority of the voters was achieved in only three states.^[2]^[3]

Result
State	On rolls	Ballots issued	For		Against		Informal	Result
State	On rolls	Ballots issued		%		%	Informal	Result
New South Wales	1,036,187	717,855	317,848	%46.93	359,418	%53.07	39,333	No
Victoria	830,391	626,861	297,290	%49.12	307,975	%50.88	21,268	No
Queensland	363,082	280,525	146,187	%54.34	122,813	%45.66	11,304	Yes
South Australia	244,026	195,463	96,085	%51.32	91,144	%48.68	8,017	Yes
Western Australia	179,784	132,149	66,349	%52.86	59,181	%47.14	6,286	Yes
Tasmania	106,746	80,398	34,660	%45.16	42,084	%54.84	3,528	No
Total for Commonwealth	2,760,216	2,033,251	958,419	%49.38	982,615	%50.62	89,736	No
Obtained majority in three States and an overall minority of 24,196 votes.
Not carried

Discussion

The 1911 referendum asked a single question that dealt with trade and commerce, corporations and industrial matters. This resolution separated each of those matters into a different question. 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.^[3] However, although many at the time felt strongly about the need for the Commonwealth to have limited control over commerce between the states, the High Court eventually gave much of the power to Commonwealth indirectly through later decisions, thus effectively removing the need for the Constitution to be changed anyway.

1911 referendum on trade and commerce

References

↑ "Notification of the receipt of a Writ for a Referendum". Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (30). 25 April 1913. pp. 1097–8 – via www.legislation.gov.au. .
↑ "Result of the Referendum". Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (55). 2 August 1913. p. 1792 – via www.legislation.gov.au. .
1 2 Handbook of the 44th Parliament (2014) "Part 5 - Referendums and Plebiscites - Referendum results". Parliamentary Library of Australia. .

Standing Committee on Legislative and Constitutional Affairs (1997) Constitutional Change: Select sources on Constitutional change in Australia 1901–1997. Australian Government Printing Service, Canberra.
Handbook of the 44th Parliament (2014) "Part 5 - Referendums and Plebiscites". Parliamentary Library of Australia.
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.

Elections and referendums in Australia

Federal elections	1901 1903 1906 1910 1913 1914 1917 1919 1922 1925 1928 1929 1931 1934 1937 1940 1943 1946 1949 1951 1953 1954 1955 1958 1961 1963 1964 1966 1967 1969 1970 1972 1974 1975 1977 1980 1983 1984 1987 1990 1993 1996 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016 next by-elections

Referendums	1906 1910 1911 1913 1916 1917 1919 1926 1928 1937 1944 1946 1948 1951 1967 1973 1974 1977 1984 1988 1999

Elections in: Australian Capital Territory New South Wales Northern Territory Queensland South Australia Tasmania Victoria Western Australia

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