Is Mise,

What are you on these days?

There have been 44 referendums held since 1901, and only EIGHT OF THEM HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL. Don't you even remember the last one on a republic? People will be taking everything you say with more than a grain of salt in future.

ttbn.

The purpose of a referendum is to ascertain the will of the people on a question/proposal, all Australian referendums have done that, therefore they have all been successful.

The fact that the question/proposal has been rejected by the people only indicates its lack of popularity and the will of the people.

No. You can't talk yourself out of this one.

ttbn.

You obviously don't understand, so:

"referendum
noun
a general vote by the electorate on a single political question which has been referred to them for a direct decision."

http://www.google.com.au/search?q=referendum+meaning&rlz=1C1CAFB_enAU718AU718&oq=referendum&aqs=chrome.2.69i57j0l5.11584j1j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

People win elections they don't win or lose referendums.
The result may not go the way that the framers of that referred to the people want but that is not a loss as the intent was to find the wishes of the majority of the voters.

All referendums do this except in the very unlikely event of a tie.

ttbn, Issy is correct, a "No" vote in a referendum is not a defeat, other than for those that favoured a "Yes" vote. The fact that the majority wish to maintain the status quo is an expression of the desire of the majority and nothing else. I'll agree most refer to a majority "No" vote as a defeat (being a defeat of the question) and it can be seen that way.

Paul,

“Issy” (good nickname for a girl named Isabel) is not correct. For starters, I didn't talk about winning or losing. I said that, of the of the 44 referendums held, only eight of them had been SUCCESSFUL. Along came Isobel claiming that all had been a SUCCESS. My information was based on official documents using official language. So, not only is your girlfriend wrong, but you have backed a loser, which is probably not strange for someone backing the Greens.

Can you explain to me how “a “No vote in a referendum is not a defeat”, but it IS a defeat for “those that a favoured a “Yes” vote”. Seems you are not waiting around for the weed to be legalised: you are on it now.

You and Isobel have deliberately changed language - successful for loss - just to score a point. If you think that referendums are not put up by politicians and people to get something they want, then you are both too naive to be out on your own. The racket made by the people who want Australia to be a republic sure indicated the LOSS they felt because the referendum was UNSUCCESSFUL