Referendum Day

Do you approve?

The question put to voters in 1967 was:

Do you approve the proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution entitled—
“An Act to alter the Constitution so as to omit certain words relating to the People of the Aboriginal Race in any State and so that Aboriginals are to be counted in reckoning the Population”?

The ‘yes’ result changed two sections of the Australian Constitution, sections 51 and 127.

Section 51, Part (xxv1):

The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to:-

The people of any race,~~other than the Aboriginal race in any State,~~for whom it is deemed necessary to make special laws

~~Section 127~~

~~In reckoning the numbers of the people of the Commonwealth, or of a State or other part of the Commonwealth, aboriginal natives should not be counted.~~

Removing these words from section 51 allowed direct Commonwealth involvement in Aboriginal affairs for the first time. The laws that had been created by the states varied greatly, and it was argued that granting this power to the Commonwealth would lead to a more consistent approach and better outcomes for Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders.

Until 1967, section 127 resulted in a ‘race’ question when the population census was conducted.

Australians who had over 50% Aboriginal ancestry were subtracted from the official population count.

The repeal of section 127 ensured that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples would be counted, alongside all other Australians.

The ballot paper of the 1967 Referendum. Question 1, known as the ‘nexus question’, sought to increase the number of members in the House of Representatives without increasing the number of Senators. This did not pass, with only 40.25% of Australians voting ‘yes’. Question 2 related to the wording that discriminated against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and was the subject of the ‘Right Wrongs, Write Yes’ campaign.
Image courtesy National Archives of Australia: A8145, 25

“We asked that section 51 be submitted to a referendum to remove this limitation on Commonwealth action in the belief that all Australian laws ought to apply equally to all Australians and that no one should be excluded from Commonwealth benefits on account of race.”Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders
The case for changing section 51, March 1967

I hope the Commonwealth sees it as meaning that the people of W.A. and of Australia want more done for Aborigines E.C.Gare, President Aboriginal Advancement Council
The West Australian, 29 May 1967

Western Australian Vote Result

An extraordinary 90.77% of Australian voters wrote ‘Yes’ on their ballot papers. While all states, including Western Australia, returned a ‘Yes’ vote, there were varied responses across the nation. WA returned the lowest 'Yes' vote at 80.95%.

Typically, regional and rural areas recorded higher ‘No’ votes than city areas.

Kalgoorlie recorded the highest 'No' vote in any electoral division at 29.04%.

Across the subdivisions, the highest 'No' vote in WA was Murchison (in the division of Kalgoorlie) with 42.6%.

In New South Wales and Queensland there were some areas that saw a ‘No’ vote of over 60%.

Men checking results over the telephone with the WA Electoral Office — Aboriginal Rights Council president George Abdullah (left) checks results over the telephone with the WA Electoral Office, while Vice-president Jack Davis lists them on a tally board, assisted by Charles Pell, manager of the Aboriginal Centre, Beaufort Street, Perth
Image courtesy The West Australian, May 29 1967, reproduced courtesy of The West Australian Newspapers Ltd.

Results by state

Division	‘Yes' vote	‘No' vote	Informal votes	Total valid votes	‘Yes' vote*	‘No' vote*
New South Wales	1,949,036	182,010	35,461	2,131,046	91.46%	8.54%
Victoria	1,525,026	85,611	19,957	1,610,637	94.68%	5.32%
Queensland	748,612	90,587	9,529	839,199	89.21%	10.79%
South Australia	473,440	75,383	12,021	548,823	86.26%	13.74%
Western Australia	319,823	75,282	10,561	395,105	80.95%	19.05%
Tasmania	167,176	18,134	3,935	185,310	90.21%	9.79%
Total	5,183,113	527,007	91,464	5,710,120	90.77%	9.23%

* As a percentage of total valid (formal) votes cast

Results in Western Australia

Division	‘Yes' vote	‘No' vote	Informal votes	Total valid votes	‘Yes' vote*	‘No' vote*
Canning	32,740	9,640	1,047	42,380	77.25%	22.75%
Curtin	33,838	6,261	804	40,099	84.39%	15.61%
Forrest	34,282	7,182	955	41,464	82.68%	17.32%
Fremantle	43,868	8,423	1,310	52,291	83.89%	16.11%
Kalgoorlie	21,719	8,888	960	30,607	70.96%	29.04%
Moore	33,117	8,709	985	41,826	79.18%	20.82%
Perth	20,989	5,529	1,126	26,518	79.15%	20.85%
Stirling	20.85%	11,667	2,003	66,797	82.53%	17.47%
Swan	44,140	8,983	1,371	53,123	83.09%	16.91%
Total	319,823	75,282	10,561	395,105	80.95%	19.05%