Australian Referendums Trivia Quiz

Answer: A majority of all voters nationally, and a majority in at least 4 states

This is known as the 'double majority'. Five times throughout the 20th century, a majority 'yes' vote was recorded nationally, but a majority was achieved in less than 4 separate states.

Answer: 8

Historically, Australians have tended to vote against referendums. The Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies said, "to get an affirmative vote from the Australian people on a referendum proposal is one of the labours of Hercules". The low rate at which referendums have been approved is often attributed to the double majority rule.

Answer: Australian Aborigines

The "Constitution Alteration (Aboriginal People) 1967" received one of the strongest endorsements in Australian history. This referendum had two parts: it gave the parliament power to make special laws in relation to Indigenous Australians; and it mandated that Indigenous people be counted in the national census.

The Constitution had previously allowed for laws to be created with respect to any race except Aboriginal Australians, and it also excluded them from population counts used to determine parliamentary representation.

Answer: Secession from the Commonwealth of Australia

The WA government sent a delegation to Westminster, asking that the state be considered an autonomous British Territory, but Britain refused to intervene and nothing came of it.

Answer: Freedom of speech

The referendum did not receive bipartisan support and so it is unsurprising that it failed. The most common argument against the "Rights and Freedoms" proposal was that the Constitutional change, being generally worded, was open to abuse.

The majority of electors in every state and territory voted against the question, and it was supported by less than 31% of voters nation-wide.

Answer: No dams

The Tasmanian government wanted to construct a hydroelectric dam on the Gordon River, which would have had a damaging effect on the World Heritage-listed Franklin River valley. A protest movement, spearheaded by the Wilderness Society, raised community awareness of the environmental issues. The Premier attempted to broker a compromise by suggesting an alternative dam site on the same river, but parliament refused to pass either option. The matter was taken to referendum, but with the only option being between one of the two proposed dam sites, a large public campaign encouraged voters to write in "no dams". One in three did so.

A month after the referendum Premier Doug Lowe resigned, and within 6 months the state government was swept from power. In 1983 the federal government also changed, and soon passed a law prohibiting dam construction in the Franklin River area. Bob Brown, leader of the environmental campaign, went on to become Senator for Tasmania for 12 years and leader of the Australian Greens Party.

Answer: Daylight savings time

Voters in Western Australia first turned down proposals to implement permanent daylight savings time in summer in 1975. The question was raised again in 1984, 1993 and 2009 with the same result each time. Who knows when it will come up again?

Answer: Self-government for the Australian Capital Territory

In 1978, almost 64% of ACT residents elected to continue the territory's existing governance arrangement, in which its Legislative Assembly functioned as an advisory committee to the federal Department of the Capital Territory. Despite the strongly expressed preference, the national parliament passed the "Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act" in 1988. From 1989 the ACT became a self-governing territory.

Answer: Social services

Prior to the 1946 vote the Commonwealth had explicit powers to legislate for invalid (disability) and old-age pensions. The parliament had passed laws concerning other social services but their constitutional basis was uncertain. In particular, a 1944 High Court case found that the Pharmaceutical Benefits Act, which aimed to provide Australians with subsidised medicines, was unconstitutional.

The amendment passed in 1946 gave the Commonwealth authority to legislate a range of benefits and allowances to families, students, unemployed people, and people requiring medical care.

Answer: Waltzing Matilda

The most popular option chosen was "Advance Australia Fair", receiving 43% of votes cast. "God Save the Queen" was the official song for regal, vice-regal and defence occasions, but was favoured by less than 19% of voters for other occasions.

"Waltzing Matilda" received almost a third of votes in Victoria and almost half of those cast by residents of the Australian Capital Territory. Not bad at all for a song about a sheep thief!