1947 New South Wales closing hour referendum
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The question is the closing hour for premises and clubs licensed under the Liquor Act, 1912: 6 pm or 9 pm or 10 pm ?[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A referendum concerning the closing hour for licensed premises and registered clubs was put to voters on 15 February 1947. The referendum was conducted on the basis of optional preferential voting. Preferences were not counted as a majority voted to maintain the 6:00 pm closing time.
Background[edit]
Six o'clock closing was introduced in New South Wales during the First World War following the 1916 referendum. The 1916 vote was influenced by a recent riot involving drunken soldiers. In February 1916, troops mutinied against conditions at the Casula Camp. They raided hotels in Liverpool before travelling by train to Sydney, where one soldier was shot dead in a riot at Central Railway station.[2] Although it was introduced as a temporary measure, the government brought in extensions and discussed putting the matter to a referendum. In 1923, however, without testing the matter by a popular vote, the Fuller Nationalist government enacted 6 pm as the closing time.[3]
The question[edit]
The voting paper was:[4]
The elector shall indicate his vote by placing the number "1" in the square opposite the closing hour for which he desires to give his first preference vote, and shall give contingent votes for all the remaining closing hours by placing the numbers "2," and "3" in the squares opposite those closing hours respectively, so as to indicate by numerical sequence the order of his preference for them.
Order of Preference Closing hour Six o'clock Nine o'clock Ten o'clock
Results[edit]
The referendum was overwhelmingly in favour of 6:00 pm closing time.
| Question | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What should be the closing hour of licensed premises |
6:00 pm | 1,050,260 | 62.44 |
| 9:00 pm | 26,954 | 1.60 | |
| 10:00 pm | 604,833 | 35.96 | |
| Total formal votes | 1,682,047 | 99.11 | |
| Informal votes | 15,183 | 0.89 | |
| Turnout [7] | 1,697,230 | 91.60 | |
Aftermath[edit]
This was the second of three referendums concerning the closing hour for licensed premises and clubs.[8]
| Referendum | 6:00 pm | 7:00 pm | 8:00 pm | 9:00 pm | 10:00 pm | 11:00 pm |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (2) 1916 Licensed premises closing hour | 62.18% | 0.97% | 3.84% | 32.16% | 0.29% | 0.56% |
| (5) 1947 Licensed premises and clubs closing hour | 62.44% | 1.60% | 35.96% | |||
| (6) 1954 Licensed premises and clubs closing hour | 49.73% | 50.27% |
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "Referendums in New South Wales". Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
- ^ Robson, LL (1969). Australia & the Great War: 1914-1918. Australia: Macmillan. pp. 12 and 63-65. ISBN 978-0-333-11921-1.
- ^ Freeland, JM (1966). The Australian Pub. Australia: Melbourne University Press. p. 175. ISBN 9780725102371.
- ^ Liquor Referendum Act 1916 No 10 (NSW).
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Referendum 15 February 1947". NSW Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 18 February 2011.
- ^ Estimate based on a roll of 1,852,787 at the 1947 state election: Green, Antony. "1947 election totals". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
- ^ a b "Results of referendums in New South Wales". Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 25 October 2021.