Australian Federation

by Jon De Vitis

Why did Australia become a nation?

Before Australia there were six colonies (or states) Tasmania, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia.

There were many reasons as to why Australia federated. The nation needed to improve the army’s overall power, to fortify Australia against Asia, to strengthen the economy and to increase immigration and workers to Australia.

Propaganda was used to change the way Australian’s thought and to get them to support the idea of Federation.

How did Australia become a nation?

In 1890 Sir Henry Parkes (Premier of NSW) called for all the Premiers to have a meeting about becoming a federation.

Henry Parkes held another two meetings in 1897 and one in 1898. However, Queensland resisted and did not attend either of the two meetings.

Smaller colonies were uneasy with the idea of a meeting. They thought that the bigger ones would have more power over them. So, the premiers adopted the idea of the U.S. government system. The number of representatives was based on the number of residents in each state; in the senate each state has the same number of representatives.

A vote was held the on the constitution. But Queensland and Western Australia did not participate and New South Wales was not counted in the election. The Premiers held a meeting about overcoming this problem.

All colonies except Western Australia agreed on becoming a Commonwealth. On the ninth of July 1900 the Queen signed the bill for Australia to become a Commonwealth.

How did Australian society change during this time period? 1890-1915

• Australia was finally federated in 1900• Australian shearers• An ‘Australian’ identity emerged. • A Federal government was established and controlled

the States. The States had to give up some of their powers to the Federal Government.

• Major infrastructure such as roads were built to connect the nation. Australians were becoming more connected to one another.

Who were the people that came to Australia?

Because of wars in other countries, especially in Europe the population of Australia grew rapidly. These people were seeking peace and stability for their lives and their families. People also came to Australia because of other things like migration and family needs.

Sir Henry Parkes - The Father of Federation (1815-1896)

Henry Parkes was the youngest of seven children. He had three wives and seventeen children. Henry Parkes was many things such as the premier of NSW, a journalist, a newspaper owner, a free trade politician, a federationist and even a poet. Henry Parkes was the one who first came up with the idea of becoming a federation. He was the one that brought together most of the meetings between the premiers. And without him we probably would have still been ruled by Brittan.

Bibliography

• Google images• Federation in Australia-kidcyber• Australian Dictionary Biography of Sir Henry

Parkes