Australian referendum, 1906

The Australian referendum of 12 December 1906 approved an amendment to the Australian constitution related to the terms of office of federal senators. Technically it was a vote on the Constitution Alteration (Senate Elections) Act, 1906, which after being approved in the referendum received the Royal Assent on 3 April 1907. The amendment moved the date of the beginning of the term of members of the Senate from 1 January to 1 July so that elections to the federal House of Representatives and the Senate could occur simultaneously.

The 1906 vote was the first referendum ever held in the Commonwealth of Australia and concerned the first amendment proposed to the constitution since its enactment. Only one question was put to the voters at that time.

Overview

Prior to the amendment the constitution provided, in section 13, that Senate term would begin on 1 January (and end on 31 December). By 1906 it was felt to be unlikely that Senate terms would generally coincide with House of Representatives terms, and that for this reason a change would be beneficial. The proposed amendment provided for Senate terms to begin on 1 July (and end on 30 June). Odger's Australian Senate Practice noted that the main reason for the change was to enable simultaneous elections to be held in March, which at the time was considered the mostly likely period in which Federal elections would be held.^[1] The amendment was uncontroversial, dealing with the mechanical matter of how to rotate Senate terms, and Robert Menzies later observed that

as the average voter ... does not care how frequently a Senator rotates, the amendment was carried.^[2]

Although the amendment has not hindered the holding of simultaneous elections, it has had one unintended consequence. Because two-thirds of Commonwealth elections have been held in the months between September and December, there have been numerous instances of incoming Senators being required to wait many months before taking their seats. Those elected on 3 October 1998, for instance, were required to wait 270 days before doing so, and those elected on 21 August 2010 were required to wait 314 days before doing so.

Referendum results

Question: Do you approve of the proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution entitled 'Constitution Alteration (Senate Elections) 1906?

State	Electoral Roll	Ballots Issued	For		Against		Informal	Result
			Vote	%	Vote	%
New South Wales	737,599	381,019	286,888	83.85%	55,261	16.15%	37,929	Yes
Victoria	672,054	380,953	282,739	83.10%	57,487	16.90%	38,936	Yes
Queensland	271,109	124,352	81,295	76.84%	24,502	23.16%	15,325	Yes
South Australia	193,118	70,479	54,297	86.99%	8,121	13.01%	7,892	Yes
Western Australia	145,473	52,712	34,736	78.93%	9,274	21.07%	6,312	Yes
Tasmania	90,209	48,792	34,056	81.32%	7,825	18.68%	5,761	Yes
Total	2,109,562	1,058,277	744,011	82.65%	162,470	17.35%	112,155	Yes
Sources: Standing Committee on Legislative and Constitutional Affairs (1997) Constitutional Change: Select sources on Constitutional change in Australia 1901-1997. Government Printing Office.

Changes to the text of the constitution

Section 13 - (removed text stricken through; substituted text in bold):

As soon as may be after the Senate first meets, and after each first meeting of the Senate following a dissolution thereof, the Senate shall divide the senators chosen for each State into two classes, as nearly equal in number as practicable; and the places of the senators of the first class shall become vacant at the expiration of the third year three years, and the places of those of the second class at the expiration of the sixth year six years, from the beginning of their term of service; and afterwards the places of senators shall be vacant at the expiration of six years from the beginning of their term of service.

The election to fill vacant places shall be made in the year at the expiration of which within one year before the places are to become vacant.

For the purpose of this section the term of service of a senator shall be taken to begin on the first day of January July following the day of his election, except in the cases of the first election and of the election next after any dissolution of the Senate, when it shall be taken to begin on the first day of January July preceding the day of his election.

See also

• Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
• Seventh Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland

References

1. ^ Odgers, J.R. (1991) Australian Senate Practice (6th Ed.), Royal Australian Institute of Public Administration, Canberra. p. 22
2. ^ Menzies, R. (1967). Central Power in the Australian Commonwealth. An examination of the growth of Commonwealth power in the Australian Federation Casswell, London. p. 14

Further reading

• Standing Committee on Legislative and Constitutional Affairs (1997) Constitutional Change: Select sources on Constitutional change in Australia 1901-1997. Australian Government Printing Service, Canberra.
• Australian Department of the Parliamentary Library (2008) Parliamentary handbook of the Commonwealth of Australia (42nd Ed.) Australian Government Printing Service, Canberra.
• Bennett, Scott (2003). Research Paper no. 11 2002-03: The Politics of Constitutional Amendment Australian Department of the Parliamentary Library, Canberra.
• Australian Electoral Commission (2007) Referendum Dates and Results 1906 - Present AEC, Canberra.

Preceded by: Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act (1900)

Amendments to the Constitution of Australia

Followed by: State Debts Amendment (1910)