1973 Australian price control referendum

The Constitution Alteration (Prices) 1973 was a bill proposing amendments to section 51 of the Australian Constitution which would give the Commonwealth legislative power over prices. The proposed changes to the constitution were not upheld, with Australians voting against the constitutional alteration.

Australian Price Control referendum, 1973
8 December 1973 (1973-12-08)
"Do you approve the proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution entitled "An Act to alter the Constitution so as to enable the Australian Parliament to control prices"?
Results
Choice
 Votes  %
Yes 3,089,139 43.81%
No 3,962,093 56.19%
Valid votes 7,051,232 98.65%
Invalid or blank votes 96,135 1.35%
Total votes 7,147,367 100.00%
Registered voters/turnout 7,653,469 93.39%
Results by state
Note: Darkness of colour denotes strength of vote

The Whitlam government proposed the amendments to the constitution reasoning that by granting increased power to federal government over prices they would be able to control inflation, which at the time was increasing significantly. However, it was ultimately determined by the voters that this was an unnecessary intervention by government, with concerns raised about the future possibility of the abuse of such powers.

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