1968 Tasmanian casino referendum
The Tasmanian casino referendum was a one-question referendum held on 14 December 1968, which concerned the granting of Australia's first casino licence to the Federal Group to operate the Wrest Point Hotel Casino in Sandy Bay.
Background
The Wrest Point Riviera hotel was purchased by the Federal Group in the 1960s, and the new owners approached
The legislation to permit the referendum was itself highly contentious and did not pass parliament until 21 November 1968, after which the date of the referendum was set to be three weeks later on 14 December. With the vote on a knife's edge, it is alleged that the government deliberately proposed a question that was opaque. The question put to the people was:
Are you in favour of the provisions of "Wrest Point Casino Licence and Development Act, 1968", the full text of which has been published in the newspapers?"[2]
Vote on the bill
Despite having a vote on the bill scheduled in December, and with the campaigning already underway, the state Labor government, realising they had the numbers on the floor of the parliament, brought the bill to a vote on 6 November 1968. After a non-stop thirty-hour debate and with the vocal opponent Mac Le Fevre overseas and not paired, the bill passed at 5am on 8 November 1968.[2]
In effect, the electorate was being asked to vote on a bill that had already been passed.
Results
State | Electoral roll | Valid votes | For | Against | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Vote | % | Vote | % | |||
Bass | 40,472 | 34,989 | 16,622 | 47.51 | 18,367 | 52.49 |
Braddon | 42,420 | 37,189 | 18,453 | 49.62 | 18,736 | 50.38 |
Denison
|
43,529 | 38,814 | 22,407 | 57.73 | 16,407 | 42.27 |
Franklin | 38,248 | 34,838 | 20,856 | 59.85 | 13,982 | 40.13 |
Wilmot | 41,475 | 36,871 | 18,501 | 50.18 | 18,370 | 49.82 |
Total | 206,144 | 182,701 | 96,839 | 53.00 | 85,862 | 47.00 |
Summary
- Yes: 96,839 (53%); No: 85,862 (47%)
- Turnout: 92.67%
- Informal votes: 8,339
Aftermath
The referendum passed by a margin of 6%, although the bill had already passed in October that year, granting the licence to the Federal Group. There was considerable opposition to the casino, and concern over the fact that a monopoly licence was awarded to Federal Hotels without any call for a
The Wrest Point Hotel Casino was completed and opened in 1973.
In 1985, the casino introduced
See also
References
- ^ a b "Tasmania got gamed". The Monthly. 1 March 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
- ^ ISBN 9781863959100.
- ^ "Referendums in Tasmania". Parliament of Tasmania. 5 August 2002.
- ISBN 0-7890-2346-6.