Constitution Alteration (Fair Elections) 1988 proposed to enshrine in the constitution a guarantee that all
Commonwealth, State and Territory elections would be conducted democratically.
The question was put to a referendum in the Australian referendum, 1988

Australian referendum, 1988

The 1988 Australian Referendum was held on 3 September 1988. It contained four referendum questions, none of which passed. The failure was generally attributed to the open ended and nondescriptive wording of the proposed amendments....

.

Results

A Proposed Law: To alter the Constitution to provide for fair and democratic parliamentary elections throughout Australia.

Do you approve this proposed alteration?

State	On rolls	Ballots issued	Yes	%	No	%	Informal
New South Wales	3,564,856	3,297,246	1,159,713	35.57%	2,100,604	64.43%	36,929
Victoria	2,697,096	2,491,183	981,508	40.12%	1,465,119	59.88%	44,556
Queensland	1,693,247	1,542,293	686,765	44.81%	845,767	55.19%	9,761
South Australia	937,974	873,511	263,006	30.61%	596,102	69.39%	14,403
Western Australia	926,636	845,209	266,639	32.02%	566,145	67.98%	12,425
Tasmania	302,324	282,785	80,608	28.89%	198,372	71.11%	3,805
Australian Capital Territory	166,131	149,128	76,815	51.99%	70,937	48.01%	1,376
Northern Territory	74,695	56,370	23,763	42.99%	31,512	57.01%	1,095
Total for Commonwealth	10,362,959	9,537,725	3,538,817	37.59%	5,874,558	62.41%	124,350

Obtained majority in no State and an overall minority of 2 335 741 votes. Not carried.

Discussion

This referendum question came about due to the widespread malapportionment and gerrymandering

Gerrymandering

In the process of setting electoral districts, gerrymandering is a practice that attempts to establish a political advantage for a particular party or group by manipulating geographic boundaries to create partisan, incumbent-protected districts...

 which was endemic during Joh Bjelke-Petersen

Joh Bjelke-Petersen

Sir Johannes "Joh" Bjelke-Petersen, KCMG , was an Australian politician. He was the longest-serving and longest-lived Premier of Queensland, holding office from 1968 to 1987, a period that saw considerable economic development in the state...

's term as the Queensland Premier.

See also