1999: The Referendum
In 1999 Australia held a referendum on the republic question. It was unsuccessful. During the 1996 election campaign, both Paul Keating and John Howard had made promises relating to holding a referendum on the republic question. John Howard, the new Prime Minister, had promised to hold a constitutional convention, and, if the convention wanted it, would hold a referendum before the end of the decade.
While the 1998 Convention agreed on the need for a referendum and on the proposed model, they did not come to an agreement on the wording of the question nor the preamble to be included. The wording was finalised by the Howard Government and put to the people in a referendum on 6 November 1999.
Resources
About the Convention and Referendum
Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House About the 1999 Republic Referendum.
The AEC Constitutional Convention overview: https://www.aec.gov.au/elections/constitutional_convention/Constitutional_Convention_Overview.htm
National Library of Australia 1998 Constitutional Convention collection
Historic Records
Australian Electoral Commission Report: 1997 Constitution Convention
Constitutional Convention Transcript of Proceedings
Books
Hume, David and Williams, George, People Power: The history and the future of the referendum in Australia, UNSW Press, 2010.
Turnbull, Malcolm, Fighting for the Republic: The Ultimate Insider’s Account, Hardie Grant Books, 1999.
Vizard, Steve, Two Weeks in Lilliput: Bear-baiting and backbiting at the Constitutional Convention, Penguin, 1998.
Scholarly Articles and Interviews
Charnock, David, National Identity, Partisanship and Populist Protest as Factors in the 1999 Australian Republic Referendum, Australian Journal of Political Science, July 2001, Vol. 36(2).
Higley, John and McAllister, Ian, Elite division and voter confusion: Australia’s republic referendum in 1999, European Journal of Political Research, 6 January 2003, Vol. 41(6).
McAllister, Ian, Elections Without Cues: The 1999 Australian Republic Referendum, Australian Journal of Political Science, July 2001, Vol. 36(2).
Mills, Stephen, The Australian Republic: The Failure of the Minimalist Model and the Next Steps Forward, Australian Journal of Public Administration, June 2002, Vol. 61(2).
McKenna, Mark; Simpson, Amelia; Williams, George J, With Hope in God, the Prime Minister and the Poet: Lessons from the 1999 Referendum on the Preamble, University of New South Wales Law Journal, 2001, Vol. 24(2).
Ward, Alan, Trapped in a Constitution: The Australian Republic Debate, Australian Journal of Poltiical Science, March 2000, Vol. 35(1).
Williams, George, The People’s Convention?, Alternative Law Journal, February 1998, Vol 23(1).
Winterton, George, Australia’s Constitutional Convention 1998, Agenda: A Journal of Policy Analysis and Reform, 1998, Vol. 5(1).
News Media
Wright, Tony, Australia says no to a republic, ‘The Age’, 7 November 1999.
Other Lectures and Media
John Uhr Lecture ‘Making Sense of the Referendum’, October 1999.
Michael Kirby Menzies Lecture, ‘A Centenary Reflection on the Australian Constitution: the Republic Referendum 1999’, 2000.