1988 Australian referendum

The 1988 Australian referendum was held on 3 September 1988. It contained four referendum questions, none of which passed.

Results [1]
Question NSW Vic Qld SA WA Tas ACT [2] NT [2] States in favour Voters in favour Result
(39) Parliamentary Terms 32% 36% 35% 27% 31% 25% 44% 38% 0:6 33% Not carried
(40) Fair Elections 36% 40% 45% 31% 32% 29% 52% 43% 0:6 38% Not carried
(41) Local Government 32% 36% 38% 30% 30% 28% 40% 39% 0:6 34% Not carried
(42) Rights and Freedoms 30% 33% 33% 26% 28% 25% 41% 37% 0:6 31% Not carried

Results in detail

Parliamentary Terms

This section is an excerpt from 1988 Australian referendum (Parliamentary Terms) § Result
Result [1]
State Electoral roll Ballots issued For Against Informal
Vote % Vote %
New South Wales 3,564,856 3,297,246 1,032,621 31.66 2,228,503 68.34 36,122
Victoria 2,697,096 2,491,183 886,128 36.20 1,561,759 63.80 43,296
Queensland 1,693,247 1,552,293 542,414 35.15 1,000,124 64.84 9,755
South Australia 937,974 873,511 229,938 26.76 629,454 73.24 14,119
Western Australia 926,636 845,209 255,556 30.67 577,555 69.33 12,098
Tasmania 302,324 282,785 70,698 25.34 208,297 74.66 3,790
Australian Capital Territory [2] 166,131 149,128 64,458 43.62 83,328 56.38 1,342
Northern Territory [2] 74,695 56,370 21,092 38.13 34,222 61.87 1,056
Total for Commonwealth 10,362,959 9,537,725 3,099,270 32.91 6,316,940 67.09 121,515
Results Obtained a majority in no state and an overall minority of 3,217,670 votes. Not carried

Fair Elections

This section is an excerpt from 1988 Australian referendum (Fair Elections) § Results
Result [1][3]
State Electoral roll Ballots issued For Against Informal
Vote % Vote %
New South Wales 3,564,856 3,297,246 1,159,713 35.57 2,100,604 64.43 36,929
Victoria 2,697,096 2,491,183 981,508 40.12 1,465,119 59.88 44,556
Queensland 1,693,247 1,552,293 691,492 44.83 850,979 55.17 9,822
South Australia 937,974 873,511 263,006 30.61 596,102 69.39 14,403
Western Australia 926,636 845,209 266,639 32.02 566,145 67.98 12,425
Tasmania 302,324 282,785 80,608 28.89 198,372 71.11 3,805
Australian Capital Territory [2] 166,131 149,128 76,815 51.99 70,937 48.01 1,376
Northern Territory [2] 74,695 56,370 23,763 42.99 31,512 57.01 1,095
Total for Commonwealth 10,362,959 9,537,725 3,538,817 37.59 5,874,558 62.41 124,350
Results Obtained a majority in no state and an overall minority of 2,335,741 votes. Not carried

Local Government

This section is an excerpt from 1988 Australian referendum (Local Government) § Results
Result [1][4]
State Electoral roll Ballots issued For Against Informal
Vote % Vote %
New South Wales 3,564,856 3,297,246 1,033,364 31.70 2,226,529 68.30 37,353
Victoria 2,697,096 2,491,183 882,020 36.06 1,563,957 63.94 45,206
Queensland 1,693,247 1,552,293 590,868 38.31 951,332 61.69 10,093
South Australia 937,974 873,511 256,421 29.85 602,499 70.15 14,591
Western Australia 926,636 845,209 247,830 29.76 584,863 70.24 12,516
Tasmania 302,324 282,785 76,707 27.50 202,214 72.50 3,864
Australian Capital Territory [2] 166,131 149,128 58,755 39.78 88,945 60.22 1,428
Northern Territory [2] 74,695 56,370 21,449 38.80 33,826 61.20 1,095
Total for Commonwealth 10,362,959 9,537,725 3,163,488 33.61 6,248,166 66.39 126,071
Results Obtained a majority in no state and an overall minority of 2,335,741 votes. Not carried

Rights and Freedoms

This section is an excerpt from 1988 Australian referendum (Rights and Freedoms) § Results
Result [1][5]
State Electoral roll Ballots issued For Against Informal
Vote % Vote %
New South Wales 3,564,856 3,297,246 965,045 29.65 2,289,645 70.35 42,556
Victoria 2,697,096 2,491,183 816,057 33.42 1,625,484 66.58 49,642
Queensland 1,693,247 1,552,293 506,710 32.90 1,033,645 67.10 11,938
South Australia 937,974 873,511 223,038 26.01 634,438 73.99 16,035
Western Australia 926,636 845,209 233,917 28.14 597,322 71.86 13,970
Tasmania 302,324 282,785 70,987 25.49 207,486 74.51 4,312
Australian Capital Territory [2] 166,131 149,128 60,064 40.71 87,460 59.29 1,604
Northern Territory [2] 74,695 56,370 20,503 37.14 34,699 62.86 1,168
Total for Commonwealth 10,362,959 9,537,725 2,892,828 30.79 6,503,752 69.21 141,145
Results Obtained a majority in no state and an overall minority of 3,610,924 votes. Not carried

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Handbook of the 44th Parliament (2014) "Part 5 - Referendums and Plebiscites - Referendum results". Parliamentary Library of Australia.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Following the 1977 referendum, votes cast in the territories count towards the national total, but are not counted toward any state total.
  3. ^ "Result of referendum with respect to Fair Elections". Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. No. S324. 27 October 1988. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 23 October 2021 – via Trove.
  4. ^ "Result of referendum with respect to Local Government". Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. No. S324. 27 October 1988. p. 3. Retrieved 23 October 2021 – via Trove.
  5. ^ "Result of referendum with respect to Rights and Freedoms". Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. No. S324. 27 October 1988. p. 2-3. Retrieved 23 October 2021 – via Trove.

Further reading