1951 Australian Communist Party ban referendum

1951 Australian Communist Party ban referendum

22 September 1951 (1951-09-22)

Do you approve of the proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution entitled—

"Constitution Alteration (Powers to deal with Communists and Communism) 1951" ?
OutcomeNot carried. A majority "no" vote nationally and in three states.
Results
Choice
Votes %
Yes 2,317,927 49.44%
No 2,370,009 50.56%
Valid votes 4,687,936 98.60%
Invalid or blank votes 66,653 1.40%
Total votes 4,754,589 100.00%
Registered voters/turnout 4,974,337 95.58%

Results by state, and division
Note: Saturation of colour denotes strength of vote

On 22 September 1951, a referendum was held in Australia which sought approval to alter the Australian Constitution to give Parliament the power to make laws regarding communism and communists, so that the Parliament would be empowered to instate a law similar to the Communist Party Dissolution Act of 1950.[1] It was not carried.[2]

  1. ^ "NOTICE OF REFERENDUM". Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (National : 1901 - 1973). 23 August 1951. p. 2153. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Handbook was invoked but never defined (see the help page).