1977 Australian referendum

Public vote in Australia containing a total of five questions

The 1977 Australian referendum was held on 21 May 1977. It contained four referendum questions and one non-binding plebiscite. To date, it is the most recent referendum to have been successful in Australia.

Result [1] Question  | NSW | Vic | Qld | SA | WA | Tas | States in favour  | Voters in favour  | Result

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(33) Simultaneous Elections | Yes  | Yes  | No  | Yes  | No  | No  | 3:3  | 62.2%  | Not carried
(34) Senate Casual Vacancies | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | 6:0  | 73.3%  | Carried
(35) Referendums | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | 6:0  | 77.7%  | Carried
(36) Retirement of Judges | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | 6:0  | 80.1%  | Carried

This referendum had a particularly strong "Yes" vote. All but one of the referendum questions were carried, and the only one not carried had a clear national majority, but was held back by not achieving a majority of the states. No referendum since then has been successful.[a][1]

Plebiscite [1] | NSW | Vic | Qld | SA | WA | Tas | ACT | NT | Total voters

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National Song (Song with most votes)  | Advance Australia Fair | Advance Australia Fair  | Advance Australia Fair  | Song of Australia | Advance Australia Fair  | Advance Australia Fair  | Waltzing Matilda | Advance Australia Fair  | Advance Australia Fair

The four referendum questions were only voted on in the states; voters in the territories only gained the right to vote on constitutional changes as a result of the Referendums amendment passing. Voters in the territories, however, were able to vote on the plebiscite.[1]

## Results in detail

[edit]

### Simultaneous Elections

[edit]

This section is an excerpt from 1977 Australian referendum (Simultaneous Elections) § Results
Result [1] State  | Electoral roll  | Ballots issued  | For  | Against  | Informal

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Vote  | %  | Vote  | %
New South Wales  | 3,007,511  | 2,774,388  | 1,931,775  | 70.71  | 800,331  | 29.29  | 42,282
Victoria  | 2,252,831  | 2,083,136  | 1,325,708  | 65.00  | 713,929  | 35.00  | 43,499
Queensland  | 1,241,426  | 1,138,842  | 534,968  | 47.51  | 590,942  | 52.49  | 12,932
South Australia  | 799,243  | 745,990  | 480,827  | 65.99  | 247,762  | 34.01  | 17,401
Western Australia  | 682,291  | 617,463  | 292,344  | 48.47  | 310,765  | 51.53  | 14,354
Tasmania  | 259,081  | 246,063  | 82,785  | 34.26  | 158,818  | 65.74  | 4,460
Total for Commonwealth  | 8,242,383  | 7,605,882  | 4,648,407  | 62.22  | 2,822,547  | 37.78  | 134,928
Results  | Obtained majority in three states and an overall majority of 1,825,860 votes. Not carried

### Senate Casual Vacancies

[edit]

This section is an excerpt from 1977 Australian referendum (Senate Casual Vacancies) § Results
Result [1] State  | Electoral roll  | Ballots issued  | For  | Against  | Informal

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Vote  | %  | Vote  | %
New South Wales  | 3,007,511  | 2,774,388  | 2,230,218  | 81.62  | 502,171  | 18.38  | 41,999
Victoria  | 2,252,831  | 2,083,136  | 1,552,558  | 76.13  | 486,798  | 23.87  | 43,780
Queensland  | 1,241,426  | 1,138,842  | 662,732  | 58.86  | 463,165  | 41.14  | 12,945
South Australia  | 799,243  | 745,990  | 557,950  | 76.59  | 170,536  | 23.41  | 17,504
Western Australia  | 682,291  | 617,463  | 344,389  | 57.11  | 258,655  | 42.89  | 14,419
Tasmania  | 259,081  | 246,063  | 129,924  | 53.78  | 111,638  | 46.22  | 4,501
Total for Commonwealth  | 8,242,383  | 7,605,882  | 5,477,771  | 73.32  | 1,992,963  | 26.68  | 135,148
Results  | Obtained majority in all six states and an overall majority of 3,484,808 votes. Carried

### Referendums

[edit]

This section is an excerpt from 1977 Australian referendum (Inclusion of territories) § Results
Result [1] State  | Electoral roll  | Ballots issued  | For  | Against  | Informal

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Vote  | %  | Vote  | %
New South Wales  | 3,007,511  | 2,774,388  | 2,292,822  | 83.92  | 439,247  | 16.08  | 42,319
Victoria  | 2,252,831  | 2,083,136  | 1,647,187  | 80.78  | 391,855  | 19.22  | 44,094
Queensland  | 1,241,426  | 1,138,842  | 670,820  | 59.58  | 455,051  | 40.42  | 12,971
South Australia  | 799,243  | 745,990  | 606,743  | 83.29  | 121,770  | 16.71  | 17,477
Western Australia  | 682,291  | 617,463  | 437,751  | 72.62  | 165,049  | 27.38  | 14,663
Tasmania  | 259,081  | 246,063  | 150,346  | 62.25  | 91,184  | 37.75  | 4,533
Total for Commonwealth  | 8,242,383  | 7,605,882  | 5,805,669  | 77.72  | 1,664,156  | 22.28  | 136,057
Results  | Obtained majority in all six States and an overall majority of 4,141,513 votes. Carried

### Retirement of Judges

[edit]

This section is an excerpt from 1977 Australian referendum (Retirement of Judges) § Results
Result [1] State  | Electoral roll  | Ballots issued  | For  | Against  | Informal

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Vote  | %  | Vote  | %
New South Wales  | 3,007,511  | 2,774,388  | 2,316,999  | 84.84  | 414,070  | 15.16  | 43,319
Victoria  | 2,252,831  | 2,083,136  | 1,659,273  | 81.43  | 378,505  | 18.57  | 45,358
Queensland  | 1,241,426  | 1,138,842  | 734,183  | 65.24  | 391,227  | 34.76  | 13,432
South Australia  | 799,243  | 745,990  | 622,760  | 85.57  | 104,987  | 14.43  | 18,243
Western Australia  | 682,291  | 617,463  | 472,228  | 78.37  | 130,307  | 21.63  | 14,928
Tasmania  | 259,081  | 246,063  | 174,951  | 72.46  | 66,478  | 27.54  | 4,634
Total for Commonwealth  | 8,242,383  | 7,605,882  | 5,980,394  | 80.10  | 1,485,574  | 19.90  | 139,914
Results  | Obtained majority in all six States and an overall majority of 4,494,820 votes. Carried

### National Song

[edit]

This section is an excerpt from 1977 Australian plebiscite (National Song) § Results

Voters were presented with the following choice: Against the background that 'GOD SAVE THE QUEEN' is the NATIONAL ANTHEM to be played on Regal and Vice Regal occasions, electors may indicate their preferences as to which of the tunes of the songs listed below they would prefer to be played on other occasions.[2]

Result  State  | Electoral roll  | Ballots issued  | "God Save the Queen"  | "Advance Australia Fair"  | "The Song of Australia"  | "Waltzing Matilda"  | Informal

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Vote  | %  | Vote  | %  | Vote  | %  | Vote  | %
New South Wales  | 3,007,511  | 2,537,805  | 348,885  | 15.32  | 1,169,421  | 51.35  | 121,456  | 5.33  | 637,795  | 28.00  | 260,248
Victoria  | 2,252,831  | 1,951,160  | 352,603  | 20.68  | 683,451  | 40.09  | 110,591  | 6.49  | 557,991  | 32.73  | 246,524
Queensland  | 1,241,426  | 1,056,804  | 204,453  | 21.38  | 438,929  | 45.90  | 61,234  | 6.40  | 251,609  | 26.31  | 100,579
South Australia  | 799,243  | 706,392  | 114,477  | 18.07  | 152,507  | 24.07  | 215,085  | 33.95  | 151,434  | 23.90  | 72,889
Western Australia  | 682,291  | 487,879  | 113,054  | 23.17  | 183,159  | 37.54  | 75,524  | 15.48  | 116,142  | 23.81  | 68,394
Tasmania  | 259,081  | 253,525  | 47,346  | 22.38  | 88,825  | 41.98  | 21,091  | 9.97  | 54,329  | 25.68  | 23,934
Australian Capital Territory  | 120,875  | 22,136  | 1,448  | 6.65  | 7,857  | 36.11  | 1,863  | 8.56  | 10,593  | 48.68  | 375
Northern Territory  | 38,209  | 2,951  | 423  | 14.93  | 1,143  | 40.35  | 413  | 14.58  | 854  | 30.14  | 118
Total for Commonwealth  | 8,401,467  | 7,069,046  | 1,182,689  | 18.78  | 2,725,292  | 43.29  | 607,257  | 9.65  | 1,780,747  | 28.28  | 773,061

## See also

[edit]

* Politics of Australia
* History of Australia

## Notes

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1. ^ The 2017 Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey returned a majority of "yes" votes in all states (and thus nationally) but - not being compulsory - was not a referendum.

## References

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1. ^ a b c d e f g h Handbook of the 44th Parliament (2014) "Part 5 - Referendums and Plebiscites - Referendum results". Parliamentary Library of Australia.
2. ^ Handbook of the 44th Parliament (2014) "Part 5 - Referendums and Plebiscites - Plebiscite results". Parliamentary Library of Australia.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Standing Committee on Legislative and Constitutional Affairs (1997) Constitutional Change: Select sources on Constitutional change in Australia 1901–1997 Archived 5 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Australian Government Printing Service, Canberra.
* Bennett, Scott (2003). Research Paper no. 11 2002–03: The Politics of Constitutional Amendment Archived 16 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine Australian Department of the Parliamentary Library, Canberra.
* Australian Electoral Commission (2007) Referendum Dates and Results 1906 – Present AEC, Canberra.

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