| 1946 Australian Marketing of Primary Products referendum | |
| Do you approve of the proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution entitled — "Constitution Alteration (Organised Marketing of Primary Products) 1946" ? | |
| Country: | Australia |
| Outcome: | Proposal rejected due to gaining a majority in only 3 of the 6 states. |
| Map: | 1946 Australian Marketing of Primary Products and Industrial Employment referendum - State majorities.svg |
| Map Size: | 220 |
The Constitution Alteration (Organised Marketing of Primary Products) Bill 1946,[1] was an unsuccessful proposal to alter the Australian Constitution to give the Commonwealth explicit power to make laws for the organised marketing of primary products and to exempt it from the freedom of interstate trade requirement of section 92 of the constitution. It was put to voters for approval in a referendum held on 28 September 1946.
Do you approve of the proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution entitled "Constitution Alteration (Organised Marketing of Primary Products) 1946"?
The proposal was to insert into section 51 the following:
51. The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have Legislative power to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to:...
(i.A.) Organized marketing of primary products;
...
(2.) The power of the Parliament to make laws under paragraph (i.A.) of the last preceding sub-section may be exercised notwithstanding anything contained in section ninety-two of this Constitution.[1]
| State | Electoral roll | Ballots issued | align=center colspan="2" | For | align=center colspan="2" | Against | align=center rowspan="2" | Informal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=center | Vote | align=center | % | align=center | Vote | align=center | % | ||
| New South Wales | 1,858,749 | 1,757,150 | 855,233 | 794,852 | 48.17 | 107,065 | |||
| Victoria | 1,345,537 | 1,261,374 | 624,343 | 567,860 | 47.63 | 69,171 | |||
| Queensland | 660,316 | 612,170 | 251,672 | 43.74 | 323,678 | 36,820 | |||
| South Australia | 420,361 | 399,301 | 183,674 | 48.74 | 193,201 | 22,426 | |||
| Western Australia | 300,337 | 279,066 | 145,781 | 113,562 | 43.79 | 19,723 | |||
| Tasmania | 154,553 | 144,880 | 55,561 | 42.55 | 75,018 | 14,301 | |||
| Armed forces | 37,021 | 19,924 | 53.81 | 15,997 | 43.21 | 986 | |||
| Total for Commonwealth | 4,739,853 | 4,453,941 | 2,116,264 | 2,068,171 | 49.43 | 269,506 | |||
| Results | Obtained majority in three states and an overall majority of 48,093 votes. Not carried | ||||||||
This was the third occasion in which the commonwealth sought power to enact legislative schemes for the marketing of agricultural produce, having been unsuccessful in 1937 and 1944.
For a referendum to approve an amendment of the constitution, it must ordinarily achieve a double majority: approved by a majority of states (i.e., four of the six states) as well as a majority of those voting nationwide.[2] This was the second of five referendums to achieve an overall majority, but fail the requirement of a majority of states.[3]