1913 Australian referendum

The 1913 Australian Referendum was held on 31 May 1913. It contained six referendum questions and was held in conjunction with the 1913 federal election.

Background

Having failed with the 1911 referendum, the Attorney-General, Billy Hughes, tried again, breaking each of the changes into separate questions. The changes were said to be necessary because the Commonwealth's powers had been cut down by successive decision of the High Court in applying the inter-governmental immunities and reserved state powers doctrines until they were said to be futile. The cases referred to by the Attorney-General were:[1]

• Union label case (1908) - trade marks;[2]
• Huddart, Parker & Co Ltd v Moorehead (1909) - control of corporations;[3]
• SS Kalibia v Wilson (1910) - navigation power;[4]
• Melbourne Steamship Co Ltd v Moorehead (1912) - trade & commerce power[5]
• Railway servants Case (1906) - State railways employees could not be part of an interstate industrial dispute;[6]
• Jumbunna Coal Mine NL v Victorian Coal Miners’ Association (1908) - appeal from the Court of Conciliation and Arbitration;[7]
• R v Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration; Ex parte BHP (1909) - prohibition against the Court of Conciliation and Arbitration;[8]
• Federated Sawmill Employees Association v James Moore & Sons Pty Ltd (1909) - federal award could not be inconsistent with a State wages board determination;[9]
• Australian Boot Trade Employees' Federation v Whybrow & Co (1910) - Court of Conciliation and Arbitration could not make a common-rule award to prevent industrial disputes;[10]
• Federated Engine Drivers' & Firemen's Association of Australasia v Broken Hill Pty Co Ltd (1911) - a union in different industries could not be registered;[11]
• R v Barger (1908) - the new Protection policy, in which protection was linked to paying fair & reasonable wages, was invalid[12]

The results

Results [13]

Question	NSW	Vic	Qld	SA	WA	Tas	States in favour	Voters in favour	Result
(6) Trade and Commerce	46.93%	49.12%	54.34%	51.32%	52.86%	45.16%	3:3	49.38%	Not carried
(7) Corporations	46.79%	49.14%	54.31%	51.34%	52.84%	45.08%	3:3	49.33%	Not carried
(8) Industrial Matters	46.88%	49.02%	54.36%	51.40%	52.71%	45.20%	3:3	49.33%	Not carried
(9) Trusts	47.12%	49.71%	54.78%	51.67%	53.59%	45.38%	3:3	49.78%	Not carried
(10) Nationalisation of Monopolies	46.85%	49.07%	54.17%	51.26%	53.19%	45.22%	3:3	49.33%	Not carried
(11) Railway Disputes	46.70%	48.79%	54.19%	51.28%	52.38%	45.01%	3:3	49.13%	Not carried

Aftermath

Writs were issued for a further referendum to be held on 11 December 1915 to cover substantially the same questions as were rejected in 1911 and 1913,[14] however the referendum was cancelled and the writs withdrawn.[15]

See also

• Referendums in Australia
• Politics of Australia
• History of Australia

References

1. Billy Hughes, Attorney-General (19 November 1912). "Constitution Alteration (Trade and Commerce) Bill". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Commonwealth of Australia: House of Representatives. pp. 5607–5609.
2. Attorney-General for NSW v Brewery Employees Union of NSW (Union label case) [1908] HCA 94, (1910) 6 CLR 469.
3. Huddart, Parker & Co Ltd v Moorehead [1909] HCA 36, (1909) 8 CLR 330.
4. SS Kalibia v Wilson [1910] HCA 77, (1910) 11 CLR 689.
5. Melbourne Steamship Co Ltd v Moorehead [1912] HCA 69, (1912) 15 CLR 333.
6. Federated Amalgamated Government Railway & Tramway Service Association v NSW Rail Traffic Employees Association (Railway servants Case) [1906] HCA 94, (1906) 4 CLR 488.
7. Jumbunna Coal Mine NL v Victorian Coal Miners’ Association [1908] HCA 95, (1908) 6 CLR 309.
8. R v Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration; Ex parte BHP [1909] HCA 20, (1909) 8 CLR 419.
9. Federated Sawmill Employees Association v James Moore & Sons Pty Ltd [1909] HCA 43, (1909) 8 CLR 465.
10. Australian Boot Trade Employees' Federation v Whybrow & Co [1910] HCA 53, (1910) 11 CLR 311.
11. Federated Engine Drivers' & Firemen's Association of Australasia v Broken Hill Pty Co Ltd [1911] HCA 31, (1911) 12 CLR 398.
12. R v Barger [1908] HCA 43, (1908) 6 CLR 41.
13. Handbook of the 44th Parliament (2014) "Part 5 - Referendums and Plebiscites - Referendum results". Parliamentary Library of Australia..
14. Amendment of Constitution, Federal referendums, the case for and against. Chief Electoral Officer for the Commonwealth. 16 September 1915.
15. Referendum (Constitution Alteration) (No 2) 1915 (Cth)

Further reading

• Select sources on constitutional change in Australia 1901-1997. Part 2 - History of Australian Referendums (PDF). Commonwealth of Australia. 24 March 1997. ISBN 0644484101.
• Bennett, Scott (2003). "Research Paper no. 11 2002–03: The Politics of Constitutional Amendment". Canberra: Parliamentary Library of Australia..
• Australian Electoral Commission (2007) Referendum Dates and Results 1906 – Present AEC, Canberra.