1984 Australian referendum (Interchange of Powers)

The Australian Constitution places some restraints on the ability of the State and Federal governments to freely cooperate. The Constitution Alteration (Interchange of Powers) 1984 proposal would have removed these barriers, such that the states and the federal government could freely interchange powers at will. The proposal was put to a referendum in the 1984 Australian referendum.

Results

An Act to enable the Commonwealth and the States voluntarily to refer powers to each other.

Do you approve this proposed alteration?

Result [1]

State	On rolls	Ballots issued	For		Against		Informal
				%		%
New South Wales	3,423,624	3,216,256	1,475,971	49.04	1,533,799	50.96	206,486
Victoria	2,617,291	2,475,891	1,139,565	49.86	1,146,136	50.14	190,190
Queensland	1,549,749	1,447,284	578,674	41.69	809,249	58.31	59,361
South Australia	908,424	856,226	355,588	45.94	418,433	54.06	82,205
Western Australia	858,763	806,637	336,184	44.28	423,022	55.72	47,431
Tasmania	289,142	277,100	87,933	34.65	165,878	65.35	23,289
Australian Capital Territory	150,416	140,982	75,741	49.10	58,487	43.90	7,754
Northern Territory	68,857	58,668	25,684	47.78	28,066	52.22	4,918
Total for Commonwealth	9,866,266	9,279,044	4,074,340	47.06	4,583,070	52.94	621,634
Obtained majority in no State and an overall minority of 508,730 votes.[2]
Not carried

References

1. Handbook of the 44th Parliament (2014) "Part 5 - Referendums and Plebiscites - Referendum results". Parliamentary Library of Australia..
2. Since the 1977 referendum electors in the territories were able to vote in referendums and their votes are counted towards the national total, but do not count toward the requirement for a majority of states.

See also