1910 Australian referendum (State Debts)

1910 Australian State Debts referendum

13 April 1910 (1910-04-13)
Do you approve of the proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution entitled — "Constitution Alteration (State Debts) 1909" ?
Results
Choice Votes % Yes 715,053 54.95% No 586,271 45.05% Valid votes 1,301,324 93.12% Invalid or blank votes 96,209 6.88% Total votes 1,397,533 100.00% Registered voters/turnout 2,258,482 61.88%

The referendum of 13 April 1910 approved an amendment to the Australian constitution. The referendum was for practical purposes a vote on the Constitution Alteration (State Debts) Bill 1909, which after being approved in the referendum received the Royal Assent on 6 August 1910.^[1]

Upon the establishment of the Commonwealth of Australia, the federal government was given the power to assume any pre-existing debts held by the state governments at that time. The Act altered section 105 of the Constitution to extend this power so that the Commonwealth could take over any debts incurred by a state at any time. On the same day the referendum was held on the state debts amendment, a proposed surplus revenue amendment was also put to the electorate but was defeated.

The referendums were held on the same day as the 1910 federal election, which Alfred Deakin's Commonwealth Liberal Party lost to Andrew Fisher's Labour Party, with Fisher being sworn in as prime minister on 29 April.