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1926 Australian referendum (Industry and Commerce)

{{Short description|Unsuccessful proposal to expand Commonwealth power on Industry and Commerce}}

{{Use Australian English|date=October 2021}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}

{{infobox referendum

| name = 1926 Australian Industry and Commerce referendum

| title = Do you approve of the proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution entitled —

"Constitution Alteration (Industry and Commerce) 1926" ?

| date = {{start date|1926|09|04|df=y}}

| country = Australia

| yes = 1,247,088

| no = 1,619,655

| invalid = 97,641

| electorate = 3,254,952

| outcome =

}}

The Constitution Alteration (Industry and Commerce) Bill 1926,{{cite web |url=https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2004B02892 |title=Constitution Alteration (Industry and Commerce) Bill 1926 |via=legislation.gov.au |access-date=22 April 2019}} was an unsuccessful proposal to alter the Australian Constitution to extend the Commonwealth legislative power in respect to corporations, and to give it the power to make laws with respect to trusts and combinations in restraint of trade, trade unions and employer associations. It was put to voters for approval in a referendum held on 4 September 1926.

Question

Do you approve of the proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution entitled 'Constitution Alteration (Industry and Commerce) 1926'?

The proposal was to alter section 51 of the Constitution as follows:

Section fifty-one of the Constitution is altered— industry and Commerce.

:{a) by omitting from paragraph (xx.) the words “Foreign corporations, and trading or financial corporations formed within the limits of the Commonwealth ”, and inserting in their stead the words ‘‘Corporations, including—

::(a) the creation, regulation, control and dissolution of corporations;

::(b) the regulation, control and dissolution of corporations formed under the law of a State; and

::(c) the regulation and control of foreign corporations; but not including municipal or governmental corporations, or any corporation formed solely for religious, charitable, scientific or artistic purposes, or any corporation not formed for the acquisition of gain by the corporation or its members ”;

:(b) by omitting from paragraph (xxxv.) the words “ extending beyond the limits of any one State ”; and

:(c) by inserting after paragraph (xxxix.) the following paragraphs:—

::(xl.) Establishing authorities with such powers as the Parliament confers on them with respect to the regulation and determination of terms and conditions of industrial employment and of rights and duties of employers and employees with respect to industrial matters and things:

::(xli.) Investing State authorities with any powers which the Parliament, by virtue of paragraph (Xxxv.) or paragraph (xl.) of this section, has vested or has power to vest in any authority established by the Commonwealth:

::(xlii.) Trusts and combinations (whether composed of individuals or corporations or both) in restraint of trade, trade unions, and associations of employers or of employees for industrial purposes, including the formation, regulation control and dissolution thereof.

Results

The referendum was not approved by a majority of voters, and a majority of the voters was achieved in only two states, New South Wales and Queensland.{{refn|name=Handbook}}Question: Do you approve of the proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution entitled 'Constitution Alteration (Industry and Commerce) 1926'?

class="wikitable"

|+ Result{{hsp}}{{refn|name=Handbook}}

width:180px" rowspan="2" | State

! width:70px" align=center rowspan="2" | Electoral roll

! width:70px" align=center rowspan="2" | Ballots issued

! width:140px" align=center colspan="2" | For

! width:140px" align=center colspan="2" | Against

! width:70px" align=center rowspan="2" | Informal

width:70px" align=center | Vote

! width:70px" align=center | %

! width:70px" align=center | Vote

! width:70px" align=center | %

align="right"

! style="text-align:left;" | New South Wales

| 1,241,635

| 1,131,656

| 566,973

| {{Yes|51.53}}

| 533,284

| align="middle" | 48.47

| 31,399

align="right"

! style="text-align:left;" | Victoria

| 968,861

| 888,661

| 310,261

| align="middle" | 36.23

| 546,138

| {{No|63.77}}

| 32,262

align="right"

! style="text-align:left;" | Queensland

| 440,632

| 399,664

| 202,691

|{{Yes|52.10}}

| 186,374

| align="middle" | 47.90

| 10,599

align="right"

! style="text-align:left;" | South Australia

| 303,054

| 281,492

| 78,983

| align="middle" | 29.32

| 190,396

| {{No|70.68}}

| 12,113

align="right"

! style="text-align:left;" | Western Australia

| 190,286

| 164,555

| 46,469

| align="middle" | 29.29

| 112,185

| {{No|70.71}}

| 5,901

align="right"

! style="text-align:left;" | Tasmania

| 110,484

| 98,356

| 41,711

| align="middle" | 44.86

| 51,278

| {{No|55.14}}

| 5,367

bgcolor=#FFE0C0 align="right"

! style="text-align:left" | Total for Commonwealth

| noWrap | 3,254,952

| noWrap | 2,964,384

| noWrap | 1,247,088

| noWrap align="middle" | 43.50

| noWrap | 1,619,655

| {{No|56.50}}

| noWrap | 97,641

style="text-align:left;"| Results

| colSpan="8" | Obtained majority in two states and an overall minority of 372,567 votes. Not carried

References

{{Reflist|refs=

{{refn|name=Handbook|Handbook of the 44th Parliament (2014) {{cite web |url=http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22handbook%2Fnewhandbook%2F2014-10-31%2F0049%22 |title=Part 5 - Referendums and Plebiscites - Referendum results |publisher=Parliamentary Library of Australia}}}}

}}

{{Australian Referendums|year=1926}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Australian Referendum, 1926 (Industry And Commerce)}}

Referendum (Industry and Commerce)

Category:1926 referendums

1926 (Industry and Commerce)

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