The 1967 Australian referendum occurred on 27 May 1967 under the
Holt government. It contained three topics asked about in two questions, regarding the passage of two bills to alter the
Australian Constitution
The Constitution of Australia (also known as the Commonwealth Constitution) is the fundamental law that governs the political structure of Australia. It is a written constitution, which establishes the country as a Federation of Australia, ...
.
The first question (''Constitution Alteration (Parliament) Bill 1967'') sought to increase the number of Members in the
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...
.
The second question (''Constitution Alteration (Aboriginals) Bill 1967'') related to
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...
(referred to as "the Aboriginal Race") and was in two parts: whether to give the
Federal Government
A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...
the power to make laws for Indigenous Australians in states, and whether in population counts for constitutional purposes to include all Indigenous Australians.
Results in detail
Parliament
:''This section is an excerpt from
1967 Australian referendum (Parliament) § Results''
Aboriginal people
:''This section is an excerpt from
1967 Australian referendum (Aboriginals) § Results''
See also
*
Referendums in Australia
In Australia, referendums (also spelt referenda) are referendum, public votes held on important issues where the electorate may approve or reject a certain proposal. In contemporary usage, polls conducted on non-constitutional issues are known a ...
*
Politics of Australia
The politics of Australia operates under the written Australian Constitution, which sets out Australia as a constitutional monarchy, governed via a parliamentary democracy in the Westminster tradition. Australia is also a federation, where pow ...
*
History of Australia
The history of Australia is the history of the land and peoples which comprise the Commonwealth of Australia. The modern nation came into existence on 1 January 1901 as a federation of former British colonies. The human history of Australia, ...
References
Further reading
*
* .
* Australian Electoral Commission (2007)
Referendum Dates and Results 1906 – Present' AEC, Canberra.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Australian Referendum, 1967
1967 referendums
1967
Events January
* January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair.
* January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...
May 1967 in Australia