Steps to Australian Federation

Steps to Australian Federation

Introduction

For several decades leading up to 1883, the general public and the colonial governments had been discussing ideas which included forming an inter-colonial authority or even federating the six separate colonies. Matters of defence, immigration, trade, transport and national pride were growing in importance on colonial agendas and influencing them to form a united front. After several attempts lasting many years, in 1901 Federation was finally established in Australia. See animation

The beginning: 1883

In January 1881, an inter-colonial conference was held in Sydney to discuss the particular issue of customs duties. Colonies such as New South Wales believed in free trade, whereas Victoria supported a 'protectionism policy' in which government taxes were imposed on goods imported from other colonies to encourage people to support local industry. Despite the conference being called to address this contentious issue, it went down in history as the first time the idea of a federal council was put forward. The Premier of New South Wales, Sir Henry Parkes (also known as the 'Father of Federation), was responsible for the idea of creating a council which was designed to resolve inter-colonial issues. Seeimage 1

In November and December of 1883, an Australasian inter-colonial convention was held in Sydney where the six colonies, New Zealand and Fiji met. There, they discussed the annexation of neighbouring islands and Samuel Griffiths, the Premier of Queensland, drafted a bill to constitute the Federal Council of Australasia.

TheFederal Council: 1885

The British Parliament passed the Federal Council of Australasia Act 1885 (UK) on 14 August and after the colonies passed adopting acts, the Federal Council was formed. New South Wales, New Zealand and South Australia (except for 1888-1890), however, all refrained from joining the Council. It was said that the absence of New South Wales, that was the most powerful colony at the time, had a severe and fatal impact on the Council which later disintegrated in 1889. Despite also being flawed by having no executive powers and no revenue of its own, the Federal Council was the first kind of inter-colonial collaboration.

Parkes and his 'Tenterfield Address': 1889

Realising the inadequacies of the Federal Council, Sir Henry Parkes made a second attempt at Federation. At the Tenterfield School of Arts on 24 October 1889, he gave a famous speech which called for the need of a national government. In his speech, Parkes highlighted the recent report by Major-General Sir J. Bevan Edwards which defined the need for the colonial forces to unite as one for the sake of the country's defence. Parkes also called for a Parliamentary Convention of Australia to be held, in which the colonies decided on a federal constitution that would define the details of a federal government and a federal parliament.

Constitutional Conventions: 1891 & 1897- 1898

With Parkes as its president, the National Australian Convention was convened at Parliament House in Sydney between March and April 1891. Delegates from each colony, and also from New Zealand, decided on the name the Commonwealth of Australia. The same man who drafted the Federal Council Bill, Samuel Griffiths, is also credited with writing the draft constitution. This claim, however, has been disputed throughout history. A number of people believe that he simply re-wrote what Tasmanian politician, Andrew Inglis Clarke, had already written. Clarke's draft was influenced by the United States' constitution and a number of British acts, which would become the basis of the hybrid Australian system of government that exists today.

The delegates were in a position to present a draft Constitution Bill to their parliaments, however, the idea of Federation quickly dissipated. The reason for this was that most governments had turned their attention to combating the economic depression of the 1890s and the high levels of unemployment and strikes which accompanied it. It was also, in part, due to a number of colonies waiting to see if the idea had the full support of New South Wales, because of its previous absence from the Federal Council.

Despite failing to reach fruition, the notion of Federation did not disappear from public attention altogether. A Victorian organisation called the Australian Natives Association (ANA), which was essentially a healthcare fund exclusively for men born in Australia, devoted itself to the federation of the colonies from the 1880s. The Association continued its mission into the 1890s when, in 1893 at Corowa, they proposed a second Constitutional Convention. This time, however, the Convention was to have delegates elected by the people from their colony and the constitution would also have to be approved by the public. See image 2

Beginning in Adelaide, before moving to Sydney and later Melbourne, the second Constitutional Convention (1897-1898) was held in a series of meetings. Having died the previous year, Parkes did not attend the second Constitutional Convention. Sir Edmund Barton, who was a delegate at this Convention, succeeded Parkes as the political leader of the campaign for Federation. Led by Barton, the basic principles, the idea of responsible government and a greater sense of democracy were agreed on, and a draft Constitution Bill was drawn up.

Referenda: 1898 & 1899

As the ANA had proposed in Corowa, the people of the colonies then had to vote in a referendum on the Constitution. The 1898 referendum was held in Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania. The result was a majority in all four colonies. The New South Wales parliament, however, had previously stipulated that it would not accept a majority in its colony unless there were in excess of 80 000 votes in favour of Federation. Despite an overwhelming majority in every other colony, New South Wales only reached 71 595 'yes' votes and the Constitution Bill was not passed.

It was realised that for Federation to go ahead, the full support of New South Wales was required. To appease their objections, in a secret 'premier's conference' which was closed to the public and the media, several amendments were made to the Constitution Bill which included that the national capital be located within a territory in New South Wales.

A second round of referenda was held in 1899 and the 'yes' majority was secured in all of the participating colonies: New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. Queensland had stated that it would await the outcome of the vote in New South Wales, because if they rejected the Constitution Bill again, Queensland would not go ahead with their own vote. With over 107 000 'yes' votes for Federation in New South Wales, Queensland gave the vote to their own people who passed the Bill.

British approval: 1900

As the colonies were still being ruled by Britain, for Federation to be established, legislation needed to be passed by the British Parliament. Sir Edmund Barton, Alfred Deakin (Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly) and Charles Cameron Kingston (Premier of South Australia) were just a few of the important delegates who travelled to London to ensure that the British Parliament passed the Constitution Bill.

The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 (UK) was passed on 5 July and on 9 July received full royal assent. Western Australia, however, had not yet had an opportunity to vote on a referendum on the Constitution Bill before it was passed. They were persuaded to join the Federation after the federal government promised it would commission the construction of a transcontinental railway track. The vote was put to them in July 1900 and it was passed by an overwhelming majority, mainly due to voters from the goldfields who had come from other colonies.

Queen Victoria royally proclaimed Australia on 17 September and declared that the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 (UK) would take effect on 1 January 1901. That same month, the England-born Earl of Hopetoun was appointed as Australia's first Governor-General.

The Commonwealth of Australia: 1901

On 1 January 1901, what had been legally disparate colonies the previous day were now States of Australia. Celebrations were to be found all across the new nation. This was especially the case in Sydney's Centennial Park where the Commonwealth of Australia was inaugurated by the Governor-General before the Barton Commonwealth Cabinet. See image 3

The first Federal election was held on 9 March, with Barton remaining as Prime Minister. On 13 May 1901, the Australian Federal Parliament was officially opened in Melbourne. It was agreed that the Parliament House of Victoria would be used until the new Capital Territory of Australia was established and the Australian Parliament could be built there.

Source: Swirk -