1981 New South Wales referendum
# 1981 New South Wales referendum

The 1981 New South Wales referendum was held on 19 September 1981, the same day as the state election. The referendum contained two questions:

   * Do you approve a Bill for an Act to extend the maximum period between general elections for the Legislative Assembly from 3 years to 4 years?

   * Do you approve a Bill for an Act to require Members of Parliament to disclose certain pecuniary interests and other matters?

## Amendments to the constitution

The primary change by the proposal to extend the maximum term was to alter section 7B of the Constitution Act 1902 to provide for a maximum term of 4 years rather than 3.

The proposal to require Members of Parliament to disclose pecuniary interests was to add section 14A to the Constitution Act 1902 which provided that

* the Governor could make regulations requiring members of parliament to disclose their pecuniary interests;
* the relevant house of parliament could declare a seat vacant if the member wilfully contravened any regulation; and
* the regulations could only be disallowed by both houses of parliament.

## Results

Both questions were approved with large majorities.

Result :

| Question | Question | Votes | % |
| - | - | - | - |
| 4 year terms | Yes | 1,951,455 | 69.04 |
| 4 year terms | No | 874,944 | 30.96 |
| 4 year terms | Total Formal | 2,826,399 | 96.53 |
| 4 year terms | Informal | 101,528 | 3.47 |
| Pecuniary interests | No | 388,791 | 13.99 |
| Pecuniary interests | Yes | 2,391,036 | 86.01 |
| Pecuniary interests | Total Formal | 2,779,827 | 94.94 |
| Pecuniary interests | Informal | 148,100 | 5.06 |
| Turnout | Turnout | 2,927,927 | 91.16 |
