1967
The referendum in 1967 was almost the opposite of what occurred last week, it is one of 8, out 45, referendums to be successful. The Liberal Holt government proposed to give the government powers to make special laws for Aboriginal people and remove Section 127 of the constitutions which determined Aboriginal Australians will not be counted as part of the countries population. The opposition, Arthur Caldwell’s Labor, backed the referendum, giving it universal support. It achieved the highest majority for a yes vote in any Australian referendum, 90 percent with a sweeping majority in all states.
Banning the Communists
In 1951, the Liberal Menzies Government, feeling the sweep of red scare politics in the United States, proposed a referendum to ban the Communist Party of Australia. A heated left and right battle ensued, Labor backed no defending the communists, and conservatives thought better dead than red. No just won in a tight vote, the Communists were saved by .5 per cent in a shocking blow to the growing anti-communist sentiment that wanted the red scare down under.
Republic
The last referendum Australia held before the voice was over the decision to become a Republic. Led by then aspiring lawyer Malcolm Turnbull, the sentiment in both right and left of politics was high for a republic, but the Australian public sent the political class a strong message of no. The no vote sweep majorities across the State and no one within Canberra has touch the topic since.
