REFERENDUM (CONSTITUTION ALTERATION) No. 2.

No. 35 of 1912.

An Act to amend the Referendum (Constitution Alteration) Act 1906–1910.

[Assented to 24th December, 1912.]

BE it enacted by the King’s Most Excellent Majesty, the Senate, and the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, as follows:—

Short title and citation.

1. (1.) This Act may be cited as the Referendum (Constitution Alteration) Act 1912 No. 2.

(2.) Sub-section (3.) of section one of the Referendum (Constitution Alteration) Act 1912 is repealed.

(3.) The Referendum (Constitution Alteration) Act 1906–1910, as amended by the Referendum (Constitution Alteration) Act 1912 and by this Act, may be cited as the Referendum (Constitution Alteration) Act 1906–1912.

2. After section six of the Referendum (Constitution Alteration) Act 1906–1910 the following section is inserted:—

Distribution to electors of arguments for and against proposed law.

“6a.—(1.) If within eight weeks after the passage of the proposed law through both Houses there is forwarded to the Chief Electoral Officer—

(a) an argument in favour of the proposed law, consisting of not more than two thousand words, and authorized by a majority of those members of both Houses of the Parliament who voted for the proposed law; or

(b) an argument against the proposed law, consisting of not more than two thousand words, and authorized by a majority of those members of both Houses of the Parliament who voted against the proposed law,

the Chief Electoral Officer shall, within two months after the expiry of those eight weeks, and not later than one week after the issue of the writ, cause to be printed and posted to each elector, as nearly as practicable, a pamphlet containing the arguments together with a statement showing the textual alterations and additions proposed to be made to the Constitution.

“(2.) When there are to be referendums upon more than one proposed law on the same day—

(a) the arguments in regard to all the proposed laws shall be printed in one pamphlet,

(b) the argument in favour of any proposed law may exceed two thousand words if the arguments in favour of all the proposed laws do not average more than two thousand words each; and the argument against any proposed law may exceed two thousand words if the arguments against all the proposed laws do not average more than two thousand words each,

(c) instead of separate statements in regard to each proposed law, there may be one statement setting out all the alterations and additions to the Constitution to be made by all the proposed laws, with marginal notes identifying the proposed law by which each alteration is proposed to be made.”