Summary

Printed booklet titled, 'Referendums to be held on Saturday, 27 May, 1967, on the proposed laws for the alteration of the Constitution entitled Constitution alteration (Parliament) 1967 and Constitution alteration (Aboriginals) 1967'. It was printed by the Commonwealth Government Printer on 6 April 1967.

The referendum asked two questions. The first was an attempt to alter the balance of numbers in the Senate and the House of Representatives which was defeated. The second was to determine whether two references in the Australian Constitution which discriminated against Aboriginal people should be removed, this was successful and saw the highest ever 'yes' vote in an Australian referendum.

The sections of the Constitution under scrutiny in question two were:

51. 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:-

(xxvi) The people of any race, other than the aboriginal people in any State, for whom it is necessary to make special laws.

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.

The majority of parliamentarians supported the second proposed amendment, a NO case was never formulated for presentation as part of the referendum campaign.

Physical Description

Printed white paper booklet, stapled in the centre with 15 pages. The Australian coat of arms is at the top centre of the cover.

Significance

The significance of the booklet lies in its association with the referendum held on 27 May 1967 when 90.77% of Australian voters recorded the largest ever 'Yes' vote in a referendum to alter the Australian constitution which finally enabled Aboriginal people to be counted in the national census and to be subject to Commonwealth laws, rather than just state laws.

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