The Tasmanian casino referendum was a one-question

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

held on 14 December 1968, which concerned the granting of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

's first

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

licence to the

Federal Group Federal Group is a privately owned family company which operates tourism, hospitality, retail, and a national sensitive freight company but are primarily known for their casino and gaming assets in Tasmania which is described as a "a licence to pr ...

to operate the

Wrest Point Hotel Casino The Wrest Point Hotel Casino is a casino in Tasmania. It was Australia's first legal casino, opening in the suburb of Sandy Bay in Hobart, on 10 February 1973. History Historically, Dunkley's Point was a camping ground held by the semi-nomadic ...

in Sandy Bay.

Background

The Wrest Point Riviera hotel was purchased by the Federal Group in the 1960s, and the new owners approached

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

Eric Reece Eric Elliott Reece, AC (6 July 190923 October 1999) was Premier of Tasmania on two occasions: from 26 August 1958 to 26 May 1969, and from 3 May 1972 to 31 March 1975. His 13 years as premier remains the second longest in Tasmania's history, On ...

about the prospect of the

Tasmanian government The Tasmanian Government is the democratic administrative authority of the state of Tasmania, Australia. The leader of the party or coalition with the confidence of the House of Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament of Tasmania, is invite ...

granting a licence to create an entertainment complex and convention centre that would contain a small

on the premises, citing that it would attract tourists during Tasmania's traditional winter "tourist slump". Reece agreed that a casino would be a tourism attraction in Tasmania Reece and together with health minister

Merv Everett Mervyn George Everett (7 October 1917 – 27 October 1988) was an Australian politician and judge. Born in Hobart, Tasmania, Everett was educated at the University of Tasmania before becoming a barrister. In 1964, he was elected to the Tasmania ...

began to promote the development. Despite a vigorous campaign there was considerable opposition to the casino bill when it was introduced to parliament on 4 October 1968 as no casino licence had been granted in Australia before. Two weeks later

The Mercury Mercury most commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * M ...

newspaper reported the bill was likely to be lost by one or two votes. Reece and Everett then withdrew the bill and on 31 October 1968 announced a referendum would take place to decide the issue. 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?"

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 Vernon Mackenzie "Mac" Le Fevre (15 February 1923 – 24 December 2004) was an Australian politician. He was born in Pyengana, Tasmania. In 1959 he was elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly as a Labor member for Bass. He was defeated i ...

overseas and not paired, the bill passed at 5am on 8 November 1968. In effect, the electorate was being asked to vote on a bill that had already been passed.

Results

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 tender. The

was completed and opened in 1973. In 1985, the casino introduced

poker machine A slot machine (American English), fruit machine (British English) or poker machine ( Australian English and New Zealand English) is a gambling machine that creates a game of chance for its customers. Slot machines are also known pejoratively ...

s, to much opposition. The pokies have since spread around the state.

References

{{Tasmanian elections 1968 referendums

Casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...