Australian referendum, 1946 (Industrial Employment)

Constitution Alteration (Industrial Employment) 1946 was an Australian referendum held in the 1946 referendums which sought to alter the Australian Constitution to give the Commonwealth legislative power over the terms and conditions of industrial employment but not so as to authorise any form of industrial conscription. The question was narrowly rejected.

Question

Do you approve of the proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution entitled 'Constitution Alteration (Industrial Employment) 1946'?

Results

Result

State	On rolls	Ballots issued	For		Against		Informal
				%		%
New South Wales	1,858,749	1,757,150	833,822	%51.72	778,280	%48.28	145,048
Victoria	1,345,537	1,261,374	609,355	%52.08	560,773	%47.92	91,246
Queensland	660,316	612,170	243,242	%43.42	316,970	%56.58	51,958
South Australia	420,361	399,301	179,153	%48.20	192,516	%51.80	27,632
Western Australia	300,337	279,066	142,186	%55.74	112,881	%44.26	23,999
Tasmania	154,553	144,880	52,517	%41.37	74,440	%58.63	17,923
Armed Forces*		37,021	20,445	%55.23	15,239	%41.16	1337
Total for Commonwealth	4,739,853	4,453,941	2,060,275	%50.30	2,035,860	%49.70	357,806
Obtained majority in three States and an overall majority of 24,415 votes.
Not carried

* Armed forces totals are also included in their respective states.

Discussion

This was one of the few occasions when an overall national majority was evident, albeit by a small margin, but no state majority was reached resulting in the referendum being not carried.

See also