labours of Hercules." Of forty-four referendums, there have been five instances – in 1937, twice in 1946, and once each in 1977 and 1984 – where a national Yes vote has been achieved but failed to win a majority of states. In three of these instances, the referendum received a majority in three states. The converse situation, where there is a majority of states but not an overall majority, has not yet occurred. Apart from 1937, in which Victoria and Queensland were the only two states in favour, only these cases have followed a consistent pattern: a Yes vote in the two most populous states, New South Wales and Victoria, and a No vote in most or all of the other states. The rejection of these referendums was due to the less populous states voting contrary to the most populous states. A contributing factor to the predominance of the No vote comes from the unwillingness of the Australian voters to extend the powers of the Federal government. Although none of the votes was over additional powers over commerce and industry granted to the government, at least two successful referendums can be characterised as giving the Commonwealth more powers: in 1946, the Commonwealth was given power to make laws with respect to a range of health and welfare services; and in 1967, the Commonwealth was given a power to make laws with respect to Aboriginal Australians. The government hoped that support for the aboriginal law would encourage electors to vote yes for the second referendum submitted at the same time, which would have abolished the nexus between the numbers of members in each House. This second law was not approved by the electors. List of referendums and plebiscites Each question asked electors to answer "Yes" or "No", except for the National Song plebiscite where electors were asked to choose between four songs. State and territory referendums States and territories of Australia may also hold referendums. Some of the most important ones were: In the years leading up to the Federation of Australia in 1901, all six colonies (as the states then were) passed referendums in favour of Federation. In 1933, voters in Western Australia voted for their state to leave the Commonwealth of Australia with the aim of reverting to the British Empire as an autonomous territory. The Western Australian Government sent a delegation to Westminster; however the United Kingdom House