Each colony had its own government and laws, including its own railway system, postage stamps and tariffs—taxes. This caused many problems and people began to think about the benefits of uniting as one nation. They argued a national government would:. This helped spark the Federation movement. Australasian Federation Conference Representatives from each of the colonies and New Zealand met , and decided the colonies should unite to become a nation. First National Australasian Convention A draft constitution for the new nation was written.
Second National Australasian Convention Representatives from each of the colonies except Queensland and New Zealand, who had pulled out of the process agreed to changes to the draft constitution.
Second referendum All the colonies except Western Australia held referendums to approve to the proposed constitution and all the colonies agreed. The Constitution provided for the establishment of a national capital, to be located in New South Wales but at least miles from Sydney. In the same year, the NT was also created. It was a remarkable political accomplishment that had taken many years and several referenda to achieve.
Tuesday June 20 was a red-letter day in Australian history. It was the day on which the people of New South Wales — the best and wealthiest of the Australian Colonies — had to decide whether they were willing to accept the Federation Bill … A very large vote was recorded all over the colony, and a majority of … electors decided that Federation under the Bill was desirable.
Enormous crowds thronged the Sydney streets on Tuesday evening to get the earliest news of the voting, and as the returns came in there was loud and long continued cheering. A brief history of Australia's journey to Federation, in live-sketch animation, as told by historian David Hunt. Australia in the late 19th century consisted of six self-governing British colonies that were subject to the British Parliament.
Each colony had its own — often quite distinct — laws, railway gauge, postage stamps and tariffs. Problems caused by these differences led to discussions about the benefits of uniting as a nation, under a federal system of governance. The colonies of New Zealand and Fiji were also part of Federation discussions. In addition, matters of defence, foreign policy, immigration, trade, transport and national pride were growing in importance among the colonies.
This provided most of the organisational and financial base for a number of Federation leagues, which formed later to work towards a united Australia. The Federal Council of Australasia was formed in to resolve intercolonial issues, including customs duties and defence. It also called for an Australasian convention where parliamentary representatives from the colonies would develop a constitution which would provide for a federal government and a federal parliament:.
The opportunity has arisen for the consideration of this great subject and I believe that the time is at hand … when this thing will be done.
Indeed, this great thing will have to be done, and to put it off will only tend to make the difficulties which stand in the way greater. Samuel Griffiths, the then Premier of Queensland, is credited with writing the draft constitution, but it was based on a version written by Tasmanian delegate Andrew Inglis Clark.
Delegates were in a position to present a draft Constitution Bill to their respective parliaments. However, the process of Federation was stalled by the economic depression of the s, with its high levels of unemployment and strikes. NSW parliamentarian Edmund Barton became the de facto leader of the federation campaign following the death of Parkes in At the convention, the basic principles of Federation — such as the idea of responsible government and the balancing of state and federal powers — were agreed upon.
Britain continued to rule Western Australia through a governor until , when it gave the colony the right to have an elected parliament and its own constitution. The first election took place in that year. Only men who owned or rented property were allowed to vote. But, for the first time, the colonists were responsible for choosing who governed them. Parkes had called for representatives of all colonies to attend a meeting, known as a convention, to discuss how a federal parliament would work and begin drafting an Australian Constitution.
John Forrest took part in this convention, which was held in Further conventions were held in and , and Forrest attended these as well. The idea of the separate Australian colonies coming together to form one nation in the British Empire was vigorously and publicly debated in all six colonies. The thinking behind Federation was that nationhood would make the whole country stronger and have benefits for all colonies.
How did the people of the colonies become involved in Federation? Resource Sheet 2. Who were some of the prominent figures on the road to Federation? Resource Sheet 3. What were the issues that had to be resolved before the colonies could federate? Resource Sheet 4. What role did national identity have in influencing Federation? Resource Sheet 5. Where would the capital of the Commonwealth of Australia be located? Resource Sheet 6.
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