A referendum concerning the closing hour for licensed premises and registered clubs was put to voters on 15 February 1947. The referendum was conducted on the basis of optional preferential voting. Preferences were not counted as a majority voted to maintain the 6:00 pm closing time.
Background Six o'clock closing was introduced in New South Wales during the First World War following the 1916 referendum. The 1916 vote was influenced by a recent riot involving drunken soldiers. In February 1916, troops mutinied against conditions at the Casula Camp. They raided hotels in Liverpool before travelling by train to Sydney, where one soldier was shot dead in a riot at Central Railway station. Although it was introduced as a temporary measure, the government brought in extensions and discussed putting the matter to a referendum. In 1923, however, without testing the matter by a popular vote, the Fuller Nationalist government enacted 6 pm as the closing time.
The question The voting paper was: (NSW). The elector shall indicate his vote by placing the number "1" in the square opposite the closing hour for which he desires to give his first preference vote, and shall give contingent votes for all the remaining closing hours by placing the numbers "2," and "3" in the squares opposite those closing hours respectively, so as to indicate by numerical sequence the order of his preference for them. Order of Preference Closing hour Six o'clock Nine o'clock Ten o'clock
Results The referendum was overwhelmingly in favour of 6:00 pm closing time.
+ Result Question Votes % What should be the closinghour of licensed premises 6:00 pm 1,050,260 9:00 pm 26,954 1.60 10:00 pm 604,833 35.96 Total formal votes 1,682,047 99.11 Informal votes 15,183 0.89 TurnoutEstimate based on a roll of 1,852,787 at the 1947 state election: 1,697,230 91.60
Aftermath This was the second of three referendums concerning the closing hour for licensed premises and clubs.
See also Referendums in New South Wales
References