The 1977 Referendums question was a successful

amendment An amendment is a formal or official change made to a law, contract, constitution, or other legal document. It is based on the verb to amend, which means to change for better. Amendments can add, remove, or update parts of these agreements. They ...

to 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, ...

that allowed Australians living in

territories A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

to vote on future referendums. This question was put to voters alongside four others during 1977. With the success of the vote, the ''Constitution Alteration (Referendums) Bill 1977'' passed. In future referendums, the votes of electors in the territories would be counted towards the national total, but would not be counted toward any state total.

Question

''It is proposed to alter the Constitution so as to allow electors in the territories, as well as electors in the states, to vote at referendums on proposed laws to alter the Constitution.'' ''Do you approve the proposed law?''

Results

Discussion

At the time of Federation the very few people who lived in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

voted as residents of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. Territorians could therefore vote in

constitutional referendums A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of Legal entity, entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. Wh ...

. When the Territory was surrendered to the Commonwealth in 1911, however, its citizens lost the vote in such referendums, due to the absence of reference to Territory voters in s. 128. Residents of the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

were similarly restricted. In 1967 demonstrations against this restriction occurred in

Alice Springs Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...

, as Territorians expressed their resentment at not being able to vote in the Aboriginals referendum. In the 1974 referendum the Whitlam Government attempted to amend s. 128 in a double-pronged proposal. Territorial voting rights in referendums were sought, but the Government also proposed that constitutional amendments could be carried with just half of the states — instead of a majority of states — voting in favour. Only

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

supported the proposal, but it is likely that, had the Territories section been a separate question, it would have been ratified. In 1977 the question of Territory votes was relatively uncontroversial, being carried in every state, gaining a national "yes" vote of 77.7 per cent, though

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

(40.4 per cent) and

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

(37.8 per cent) had quite large "no" votes. It has been claimed that the high vote of approval was a reminder of Australia's honourable record of electoral reform — that the amendment had "Australian political tradition behind it". Despite John Paul of the University of New South Wales dismissing the change as the granting of a "hollow privilege", ''

The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in 1 ...

'' stated that people in both Territories should be grateful, "for the universal acknowledgment that their natural right to vote in future referendums will now be given the force of law".

References

! colspan="3" style="border-top: 5px solid #cccccc" , Amendments to the

Constitution of Australia 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, ...

, - , style="width: 30%; text-align: center;" , 5th amendment

Aboriginals Amendment

(1910) , style="width: 30%; text-align: center;" , Most recent amendments

External links

State-by-state results of the 1977 referendum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Australian Referendum, 1977 (Referendums) 1977 in Australian law 1977 elections in Australia Amendments to the Constitution of Australia 1977 referendums Constitutional referendums in Australia