Australian referendum, 1951

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The 1951 Australian Referendum was held on 22 September 1951. It contained one referendum question.

(23) Communists and Communism

1 Proposed Amendment
2 Results
3 Discussion
4 See also

[edit] Proposed Amendment

Constitution Alteration (Powers to deal with Communists and Communism) 1951 sought increase the power of the government to make laws with respect to Communists and Communism.

[edit] Results

Do you approve of the proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution entitled 'Constitution Alteration (Powers to deal with Communists and Communism) 1951'?

Result
State	On rolls	Ballots issued	For		Against		Informal
State	On rolls	Ballots issued		%		%	Informal
New South Wales	1,944,219	1,861,147	865,838	%47.17	969,868	%52.83	25,441
Victoria	1,393,556	1,326,024	636,819	%48.71	670,513	%51.29	18,692
Queensland	709,328	675,916	373,156	%55.76	296,019	%44.24	6,741
South Australia	442,983	427,253	198,971	%47.29	221,763	%52.71	6,519
Western Australia	319,383	305,653	164,989	%55.09	134,497	%44.91	6,167
Tasmania	164,868	158,596	78,154	%50.26	77,349	%49.74	3,093
Armed Forces*		9,472	6,478		2,917		82
Total for Commonwealth	4,974,337	4,754,589	2,317,927	%49.44	2,370,009	%50.56	66,653
Obtained majority in three States and an overall minority of 52 082 votes.
Not carried

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

[edit] Discussion

The Menzies government tried to ban the Communist Party, by legislation that was declared constitutionaly invalid by the High Court. Following this defeat, the government sponsored this referendum in order to attempt to overcome these constitutional obstacles. The referendum question was opposed, not surprisingly, by the Communist Party. It was also opposed by the Australian Labor Party, and even the Young Liberals, on the grounds of it restricting freedoms of speech and association.