1978 Australian Capital Territory self-government referendum

none April 2026 April 2026 1978 Australian Capital Territoryself-government referendum Australian Capital Territory 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. 25 November 1978 Present arrangements Self-government Local government 69,893 33,480 6,268 1,888 130,522 A referendum was held on 25 November 1978, asking voters in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) whether the territory should be granted self-governance.Referendum (Self-government) Ordinance 1978 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/240629427 Commonwealth of Australia Gazette 15 January 2025 1 24 October 1978 Three options were presented − Proposal A ("self-government"), Proposal B ("local government") and Proposal C ("present arrangements").The three choices https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/110918971 The Canberra Times 15 January 2025 16 25 October 1978Andrews Ross 1978-08-25 Poll to decide if ACT gets self-government https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/110904637/12382000 2026-10-03 The Canberra Times Campaign According to future MLA Wayne Berry, many residents saw the establishment of self-government as a cost-cutting exercise.2008-12-31 ACT self-govt 'seen as cost-cutting exercise' https://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-01-01/act-self-govt-seen-as-cost-cutting-exercise/253790 live https://web.archive.org/web/20161030010649/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-01-01/act-self-govt-seen-as-cost-cutting-exercise/253790 2016-10-30 2026-10-03 ABC News Result The election was conducted using preferential voting, with voters numbering all options in the order of their preferred governance model.Experts do not know best, Fry says https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/110924829 15 January 2025 14 22 November 1978 The Canberra Times Voting was compulsory.The proposals to be voted on this week https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/110924239 15 January 2025 8 19 November 1978 The Canberra Times The proposal required 50% (plus 1) of the vote to pass.Official result of poll https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/110926344 The Canberra Times 15 January 2025 10 30 November 19781978 Referendum https://www.elections.act.gov.au/elections/referendums/1978-referendum Elections ACT 15 January 2025 https://web.archive.org/web/20250115134512/https://www.elections.act.gov.au/elections/referendums/1978-referendum 15 January 2025 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.Andrews Ross 'NO CHANGE' TRIUMPH https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/110925506 The Canberra Times 15 January 2025 1 26 November 1978 The ACT was later granted self-governance in 1989.Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act 1988 (Cth) https://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/item-sdid-117.html Museum of Australian Democracy 15 January 2025 https://web.archive.org/web/20241227061251/https://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/item-sdid-117.html 27 December 2024Turbulent 20yrs of self-government https://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-05-11/turbulent-20yrs-of-self-government/1679008 ABC News 15 January 2025 https://web.archive.org/web/20220329043018/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-05-11/turbulent-20yrs-of-self-government/1679008 29 March 2022 11 May 2009 Result by federal electorate 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.Jervis Bay out of ACT poll https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/110917985 The Canberra Times 15 January 2025 1 21 October 1978 Electorate Enrolledvoters 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 Endorsements Proposal A (self-government) Political parties ACT Labor PartyMajor parties favour ACT self-rule https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/110917524 The Canberra Times 15 January 2025 3 19 October 1978 ACT Liberal PartyLiberals disagree on ACT self-rule https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/110922712 The Canberra Times 15 January 2025 1 12 November 1978 Australian DemocratsSelf-rule policy https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/110914016 The Canberra Times 15 January 2025 3 4 October 1978 Organisations Council of Social Services of the ACT Individuals All 18 members of the ACT Legislative AssemblyAssembly backs 'State' rule https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/110920359 The Canberra Times 15 January 2025 3 31 October 1978Andrews Ross Assembly opens referendum campaign https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/110922163 The Canberra Times 15 January 2025 1 9 November 1978MLAs 'accept poll result' https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/110928919 The Canberra Times 15 January 2025 28 13 December 1978 Sir Billy Snedden (Federal Liberal MP and Speaker of the House of Representatives)Andrews Ross Canberra has reached maturity: Snedden https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/110924791 The Canberra Times 15 January 2025 14 22 November 1978 Proposal B (local government) Individuals John Haslem (Federal Liberal MP for Canberra) John Knight (Liberal senator for the ACT) Proposal C (present arrangements) Organisations No Change for Canberra CommitteePolice 'support no-change proposal' https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/110923856 The Canberra Times 15 January 2025 9 17 November 1978 Individuals Adrian Howie (ACT Liberal Party financial director) Tony Rothewell (ACT Liberal Party campaign director) No support for any proposal Organisations ACT Sports CouncilNo referendum proposal backed by sports body https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/110923577? The Canberra Times 15 January 2025 27 16 November 1978 Opinion polling Voting intention DateFirmInterviewmode SamplesizeVoting intention white Self-governance A (SG) white Local government in Australia B (LG) C (PA) UND Undecided 25 November 1978 1978 referendum — 130,522 30.54% 5.49% 63.75% — September—October 1978 ANU Survey Research CentreAndrews Ross State-type rule has 'no chance' https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/110922654 The Canberra Times 15 January 2025 7 11 November 1978Andrews Ross 44pc in ANU poll support no change https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/110923348 The Canberra Times 15 January 2025 3 15 November 1978 491 24.0% 24.5% 44% 7.5% References Category:Referendums in the Australian Capital Territory AustralianCapitalTerritory AustralianCapitalTerritoryreferendum Referendum1978