1978 Australian Capital Territory self-government referendum
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25 November 1978
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Proposal A: That self-government be granted to the Australian Capital Territory by delegating functions to a locally elected legislative body in the stages set out in the statement, published in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette on 24 October 1978, for the purposes of sub-section 43(1) of the Referendum (Self-government) Ordinance 1978. Proposal B: That a locally elected legislative body be established in the Australian Capital Territory with local government-type legislative and executive functions. Proposal C: That the present arrangements for governing the Australian Capital Territory should continue for the time being. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A referendum was held on 25 November 1978, asking voters in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) whether the territory should be granted self-governance.[1] Three options were presented − Proposal A (self-government), Proposal B (local government) and Proposal C ('present arrangements').[2]
63.8% of ACT voters chose to support the present arrangements, compared to 30.5% for self-government and 5.7% for local government. As a result, no change was made to the governing structure.[3] The ACT was later granted self-governance in 1989.[4][5]
Result by federal electorate
The election was conducted using preferential voting, with voters numbering all options in the order of their preferred governance model.[6] Voting was compulsory.[7] The proposal required 50% (plus 1) of the vote to pass.[8][9]
Residents of the Jervis Bay Territory, which was part of the federal electorate of Fraser at the time, were not eligible to vote in the referendum.[10]
| Electorate | Enrolled voters[3] |
A (SG) | B (LG) | C (PA) | Informal | Turnout | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Total | % | ||
| Canberra | 64,538 | 15,721 | 28.92 | 3,227 | 5.93 | 35,394 | 65.13 | 888 | 1.60 | 55,230 | 85.57 |
| Fraser | 65,984 | 17,759 | 32.11 | 3,041 | 5.49 | 34,499 | 62.38 | 1,000 | 1.77 | 56,299 | 85.32 |
| Total | 130,522 | 33,480 | 30.54 | 6,268 | 5.72 | 69,893 | 63.75 | 1,888 | 1.69 | 111,529 | 85.44 |
