The Constitution Alteration (Prices) 1973 was a bill proposing amendments to section 51 of the Australian Constitution which would give the Commonwealth legislative power over prices. The proposed changes to the constitution were not upheld, with Australians voting against the constitutional alteration. The Whitlam Government proposed the amendments to the constitution reasoning that by granting increased power to federal government over prices they would be able to control inflation, which at the time was increasing significantly. However, it was ultimately determined by the voters that this was an unnecessary intervention by government, with concerns raised about the future possibility of the abuse of such powers. Background Economic context The economic context that led to the eventual proposition of the 1973 Prices Referendum was driven by numerous economic factors. A resource boom derived from the demands of Japanese industrialisation and increased capital inflows due to the Australian dollar being perceived as undervalued drove Australia's economy in the early 1970s. These factors contributed to an economic environment in 1971 that was generally considered strong, with the AUD rising to $1.40, unemployment at 2% and economic growth rising 5% per year. However, in the same period, inflation rose steadily to 7.3% as average weekly earnings rose to over 10% per annum. Australia's inflation post World War II averaged around 2%. Therefore, this increase in inflation was very significant at the time. Fiscal policy was expansionary with concerns over the slow rise of unemployment. The Whitlam Labor government announced tax cuts, along with spending on education, health, urban development and the environment. Additionally, Whitlam's government supported pay rises, improvements in working conditions and gender equality in income. This led to an increase in minimum wage for women from 75% to 100% of the corresponding male wage. In 1973, average weekly earnings had increased to 15.3% driven by wage decisions and consequently the inflation rate began to push double figures. In October 1973, the Arab-Israel conflict quadrupled world oil prices, triggering global high unemployment and high inflation or "stagflation". Australia's own inflation rate rose to 10.1% in 1973. Political context By 1973, Gough Whitlam's government was under growing pressure to slow the rising inflation. Snedden's Liberal party opposition accused Whitlam of allowing inflation to get out of control, while instead spending extensively on social issues like education and health. They also criticised Labor as hypocritical, because as the opposition Labor scrutinised the Liberal government for