1995 Referendum

On 18 February 1995 the Proportional Representation (Hare-Clark) Entrenchment Bill 1994 was submitted to a referendum.

• Legislation
• For and against case booklet

Overview

On 8 December 1994, a Private Member's Bill, the Proportional Representation (Hare-Clark) Entrenchment Bill, was passed by the Legislative Assembly.

The Bill provided for the conduct of a referendum, which if passed by a majority of electors, would entrench principles of the ACT's current electoral system. The Entrenchment Bill provided that, should the referendum proposal be approved at referendum, elements of the electoral system would only be able to be changed if a majority of electors voted in favour of change at a future referendum, or if a two-thirds majority of Legislative Assembly members voted in favour of change.

The referendum was held in conjunction with the 18 February 1995 general election for the Legislative Assembly.

Voters were asked to write YES or NO on the ballot paper to show whether they approved the law to entrench the principles of the proportional representation (Hare-Clark) electoral system.

The results of the referendum showed that 56.68%, a majority, of all the electors entitled to vote at the referendum approved the entrenching law. For an entrenchment referendum proposal to succeed under the Australian Capital Territory (Self Government) Act 1988 a majority of electors have to approve the proposal. That is, more than half of the electors on the electoral roll had to vote "Yes" for the referendum to succeed, rather than half the electors formally voting.

Of those electors who cast a valid vote, 65.01% approved the entrenching law. The referendum result was declared on 16 March 1995 and the principles of the proportional representation (Hare-Clark) system were entrenched.

Statistics

Electorate	Yes		No		Formal		Informal		Total		Enrolment
	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%
Brindabella	30330	60.89	19485	39.11	49815	95.68	2250	4.32	52065	89.26	58327
Ginninderra	30916	64.17	17259	35.83	48175	95.87	2077	4.13	50252	88.55	56749
Molonglo	48420	68.49	22273	31.51	70693	96.11	2863	3.89	73556	89.83	81883
Total ACT	109666	65.01	59017	34.99	168683	95.91	7190	4.09	175873	89.29	196959
	(percentages are of formal votes)				(percentages are of total votes)				(percentages are of enrolment)