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Early Days
There were 6 British colonies in Australia. They could decide some things themselves, but the laws were made in Britain. -
The Coming of Colonies
Each colony was now able to elect their own government, but still the big decisions were made in Britain. People in the colonies were starting to talk about joining together to be one nation instead of 6 little colonies. -
1891
A meeting was held to discuss federation. Each colony sent 7 people. They started to write a constitution (say con-stit-you-shun) , which is a list of rules about how the nation's parliament will work. -
1893
The federation groups decided that the people of Australia should vote to decide if federation should take place. -
1897
• The first session of the National Australasian convention is held in Adelaide to work towards building a federal constitution. All the colonies around the country attended except Queensland. -
1898
• The third and final session of the National Australasian convention is held in Melbourne. Delegates agree on a draft constitution. -
1899
The premiers met to discuss the things that worried those three colonies, and changes were made to the Constitution. One change was that there would be a new capital built between Sydney and Melbourne, because both thought they should be the capital city. People in all colonies except Western Australia voted for the new Constitution, and this time it was successful. -
1899
• The Victorian and Tasmanian referendum are won -
1899
• Australian delegates are invited to London to negotiate the enactment of Britain on the Constitution bill. -
1900
• The first delegates meeting held in London. -
1900
• A conference of state premiers is held in Melbourne to support the delegates in London. The meeting confirms that the delegate’s mission is to have the Constitution Bill passed in London in the form voted by the Australian people. -
1900
• Queen Victoria gives royal assent to the act. -
1900
• The Western Australia referendum is won -
1900
• Queen Victoria proclaims that the Commonwealth of Australia, made up of all six colonies, will come into existence on January 1st 1901 -
1901
• Queen Victoria dies and is succeeded by Edward vii. -
The Official Federation
• The Commonwealth Government takes control of a wide range of functions formerly exercised by the colonies including military forces, postal and customs department’s immigration. The commonwealth’s constitution powers include; the power to legislate about trade with other countries and among the states, taxation, customs, banking ,currency and coins, telegraphic and telephonic services, and the federal public service. -
1901
• The first federal election is held. Adult men are allowed to vote in all states, but aborigines and women can only vote in some states. -
1901
• A census shows that the population of Australia is 3,773,800. Aborigines were not counted -
1901
• The first Federal Parliament is opened by the Duke of Yorkshire. Federal parliament will meet in Melbourne until 1927 when the capital moves to Canberra -
1901
Australia new national flag is flown for the first time. There were 32,823 entries in the competition for its design.