Constitution Alteration (Parliamentary Terms) 1988 was a proposal put to referendum

Referendum

A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...

 in the Australian referendum, 1988

Australian referendum, 1988

The 1988 Australian Referendum was held on 3 September 1988. It contained four referendum questions, none of which passed. The failure was generally attributed to the open ended and nondescriptive wording of the proposed amendments....

. It proposed to alter the Australian constitution such that Senate

Australian Senate

The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...

 terms be reduced from six to four years, and House of Representative

Australian House of Representatives

The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....

 terms be increased from three years to four years. It also proposed for the fourth time that Senate and House elections occur simultaneously.

Results

A Proposed Law: To alter the Constitution to provide for 4 year maximum terms for members of both Houses of the Commonwealth Parliament.

Do you approve this proposed alteration?

State	On rolls	Ballots issued	Yes	%	No	%	Informal
New South Wales	3,564,856	3,297,246	1,032,621	31.66%	2,228,503	68.34%	36,122
Victoria	2,697,096	2,491,183	886,128	36.20%	1,561,759	63.80%	43,296
Queensland	1,693,247	1,542,293	538,779	35.15%	993,822	64.85%	9,692
South Australia	937,974	873,511	229,938	26.76%	629,454	73.24%	14,119
Western Australia	926,636	845,209	255,556	30.67%	577,555	69.33%	12,098
Tasmania	302,324	282,785	70,698	25.34%	208,297	74.66%	3,790
Australian Capital Territory	166,131	149,128	64,458	43.62%	83,328	56.38%	1,342
Northern Territory	74,695	56,370	21,092	38.13%	34,222	61.87%	1,056
Total for Commonwealth	10,362,959	9,537,725	3,099,270	32.91%	6,316,940	67.09%	121,515

Obtained majority in no State and an overall minority of 3 217 670 votes. Not carried.

Discussion

This proposal was arguably the biggest proposed change in actual political process that has been raised in a referendum, with the possible exception of the Republic Referendum of 1999 which proposed a rather minimal actual change. The clear 'No' vote on this issue clearly demonstrated that the voters were unconvinced by any major change in the political process.

See also