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The Beginning
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 -
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Timespan
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The federal council
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 ( 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 havi -
Parkes Speech on 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 gove -
Parliment House in Sydney
With Parkes as its president, the National Australian Convention was convened at Parliament House in Sydney between March and April. Delegates from each colony, and also from New Zealand, decided on the name the Commonwealth of Australia. -
Referenda
As the ANA had proposed in Corowa, the people of the colonies then had to vote in a referendum on the Constitution.Despite an overwhelming majority in every other colony, New South Wales only reached 71 595 'yes' votes and the Constitution Bill was not passed. -
Referends #2
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
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 -
Comonwealth of Australia
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 -
Declaration of the Commonwealth of Australia
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. -
Officially The Commonwealth of Australia
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. -
The Big opening
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.