A referendum concerning the reduction of the members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly was put to voters on 16 December 1903, in conjunction with the 1903 federal election. The referendum was conducted on the basis of optional preferential voting. However, preferences were not counted, as an overwhelming majority voted to reduce the number of members to 90.[1]
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As to what shall be the number of Members of the Legislative Assembly. Which of the following numbers do you prefer, and what is the order of your preference? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The question
editThe text of the question was:[2]
As to what shall be the number of Members of the Legislative Assembly.
Which of the following numbers do you prefer, and what is the order of your preference?
125 (This is the present number.) 100 90
Results
editThe referendum was overwhelmingly in favour of reducing the number of members to 90.
| Question | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What should be the number of Members of the Legislative Assembly |
Maintain at 125 | 63,171 | 22.3 |
| Reduce to 100 | 13,316 | 4.7 | |
| Reduce to 90 | 206,273 | 72.9 | |
| Total Formal | 282,760 | 87.2 | |
| Informal | 41,484 | 12.8 | |
| Turnout [4] | 324,244 | 96.32 | |
Aftermath
editThe referendum did not provide how the reduction of members was to occur. Parliament was recalled to decide how to give effect to the referendum,[5] and passed the Electorates Redistribution Act 1904 which provided the districts were to be determined by three electoral districts commissioners.[6] The proposed districts were published by the commissioners on 18 March 1904,[7] and the final districts were published on 22 April 1904.[8]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "1904 Redistribution". Atlas of New South Wales. NSW Land & Property Information. Archived from the original on 23 June 2015.
- ^ Reduction of Members Referendum Act 1903 (PDF).
- ^ "Result of the referendum". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 25. New South Wales, Australia. 12 January 1904. p. 341. Retrieved 7 December 2019 – via Trove.
- ^ Estimate based on a roll of 345,500 at the 1901 state election: Green, Antony. "1901 election totals". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
- ^ "Summons: recall of parliament". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 35. 19 January 1904. p. 481. Retrieved 10 December 2019 – via Trove.
- ^ Electorates Redistribution Act 1904 (PDF).
- ^ "Proposed new Electoral Districts". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 158. 18 March 1904. p. 2329. Retrieved 10 December 2019 – via Trove.
- ^ "Notice of final electoral districts". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 227. 22 April 1904. p. 3227. Retrieved 10 December 2019 – via Trove.