1984 Australian referendum (Interchange of Powers)
The Australian Constitution places some restraints on the ability of the State and Federal governments to freely cooperate. The Constitution Alteration (Interchange of Powers) 1984 proposal would have removed these barriers, such that the states and the federal government could freely interchange powers at will. The proposal was put to a referendum in the 1984 Australian referendum.
Results
An Act to enable the Commonwealth and the States voluntarily to refer powers to each other.
Do you approve this proposed alteration?
| State | On
rolls |
Ballots
issued |
For | Against | Informal | ||
| % | % | ||||||
| New South Wales | 3,423,624 | 3,216,256 | 1,475,971 | 49.04 | 1,533,799 | 50.96 | 206,486 |
| Victoria | 2,617,291 | 2,475,891 | 1,139,565 | 49.86 | 1,146,136 | 50.14 | 190,190 |
| Queensland | 1,549,749 | 1,447,284 | 578,674 | 41.69 | 809,249 | 58.31 | 59,361 |
| South Australia | 908,424 | 856,226 | 355,588 | 45.94 | 418,433 | 54.06 | 82,205 |
| Western Australia | 858,763 | 806,637 | 336,184 | 44.28 | 423,022 | 55.72 | 47,431 |
| Tasmania | 289,142 | 277,100 | 87,933 | 34.65 | 165,878 | 65.35 | 23,289 |
| Australian Capital Territory | 150,416 | 140,982 | 75,741 | 49.10 | 58,487 | 43.90 | 7,754 |
| Northern Territory | 68,857 | 58,668 | 25,684 | 47.78 | 28,066 | 52.22 | 4,918 |
| Total for Commonwealth | 9,866,266 | 9,279,044 | 4,074,340 | 47.06 | 4,583,070 | 52.94 | 621,634 |
| Obtained majority in no State and an overall minority of 508,730 votes.[2] | |||||||
| Not carried | |||||||
References
- ^ Handbook of the 44th Parliament (2014) "Part 5 - Referendums and Plebiscites - Referendum results". Parliamentary Library of Australia..
- ^ Since the 1977 referendum electors in the territories were able to vote in referendums and their votes are counted towards the national total, but do not count toward the requirement for a majority of states.
