| 1974 Australian Local Government Bodies referendum | |
| An Act to alter the Constitution to enable the Commonwealth to borrow money for, and to grant financial assistance to, local government bodies Do you approve the proposed law? | |
| Country: | Australia |
| Yes: | 3,406,724 |
| No: | 3,864,777 |
| Invalid: | 139,010 |
| Electorate: | 7,759,714 |
The Constitution Alteration (Local Government Bodies) Bill 1974[1] was an unsuccessful proposal to alter the Australian Constitution to allow the Commonwealth to grant financial assistance to local government bodies, and to borrow money on their behalf. It was put to voters for approval in a referendum held on 18 May 1974.
Proposed law entitled "An Act to alter the Constitution to enable the Commonwealth to borrow money for, and to grant financial assistance to, local government bodies".
Do you approve the proposed law?
The proposal was to insert into section 51 that the Parliament have power to make laws with respect to:
(ivA.) The borrowing of money by the Commonwealth for local government bodies
And to add a new section 96A
96A. The Parliament may grant financial assistance to any local government body on such terms and conditions as the Parliament thinks fit.[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 | 2,834,558 | 2,702,903 | 1,350,274 | 1,308,039 | 49.21 | 44,590 | |||
| Victoria | 2,161,474 | 2,070,893 | 961,664 | 47.38 | 1,068,120 | 41,109 | |||
| Queensland | 1,154,762 | 1,098,401 | 473,465 | 43.68 | 610,537 | 14,399 | |||
| South Australia | 750,308 | 722,434 | 298,489 | 42.52 | 403,479 | 20,466 | |||
| Western Australia | 612,016 | 577,989 | 229,337 | 40.67 | 334,529 | 14,123 | |||
| Tasmania | 246,596 | 237,891 | 93,495 | 40.03 | 140,073 | 4,323 | |||
| Total for Commonwealth | 7,759,714 | 7,410,511 | 3,406,724 | 46.85 | 3,864,777 | 139,010 | |||
| Results | Obtained majority in one state and an overall minority of 458,053 votes. Not carried | ||||||||