Australian Federation Research Paper

Australia was originally a collection of six independent colonies and due to many reasons discussed in this essay, they drew together and became a Federation. Although the States still retain their own identities, it is as Australian's that we are united and identified against the rest of the world. Australia has become a recognized nation with political and military standing.

In 1787, a ship of criminals set out from England to establish a colony in Australia. Its main purpose was to relocate as many of the London pickpockets, petty thieves and small-time criminals as possible. The first fleet (as it is now known) arrived at Sydney Cove on 26th January 1788 under the leadership of Captain Arthur Phillip.

(Pearson History 9 page 118)

In the years before 1900, Australian colonies posed the greatest difficulty to nationhood. The rivalry between the two largest colonies of Australia, New South Wales, and Victoria, was very strong.

By 1888, Melbourne had grown to become Australia's largest city and the second largest in the British Empire after London. Smaller colonies such as Tasmania evolved and disliked the forceful attitude of the larger colonies.

South Australia, a colony established by free settlers rather than convicts, had won democratic rights for its citizens that were unmatched anywhere else in Australia.

Many South Australians, therefore, feared to go back under a federal system. 1890, Western Australia was granted self-government by Britain and was determined not to lose its new independence to a federal parliament on the other side of the continent. Supporters of the federation were faced with a difficult task trying to unite colonial politicians behind the idea of federation. However, as the century ended there were compelling reasons for Australian

nationhood.
(Pearson History 9 page 233)

Henry Parkes was the five-time premier of NSW when in 1889 he made a very famous speech about the federation and the push to unite the colonies as a single country, with the purpose of forming the Australian government.

The speech had a major impact, by convincing the leaders of the colonies together to talk about the federation. Some New Zealand colonies also came to talk about federation and after a lot of discussion in 1891, the delegates drew up a draft constitution for the Commonwealth of Australia.

Despite the good intentions, the idea of a Federation and the Commonwealth of Australia didn't go ahead at the time because the colonies weren't experiencing poor economic conditions. There were also discussions that draft of the Constitution wasn't democratic enough and that everyday people weren't getting enough of a say in the matter.

Alfred Deakin was part of the colonies being born in Australia and he thought that they should be a United.

Deakin convinced the colonies to have another try at the Constitution of Federation but the only differences were that this time, people got to vote for the representative who would help to draw it up.

There were a lot of disagreements because the bigger richer states thought that they would have to share with the smaller poorer states, and the smaller states thought that they wouldn't get a say in decisions. The colonies also let people vote whether they wanted federation or not.

In 1899, all the colonies except for Western Australia had said "yes" and this time Australia would become a Nation. After a year of Federation, Western Australia agreed to join but by then the Constitution was already written and agreed by the Queen.

The Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory would come a few years after 1901 and with the change, the States retained a lot of their lawmaking and tax collecting powers. While the Federal Government would run things such as Defence and Immigration. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people weren't included in the Constitution and the new rules made it harder for people who weren't European, to migrate to

Australia.

On 18 January 1788, the First Fleet arrived at Botany Bay (New South Wales), which Joseph Banks had declared appropriate for a penal colony after he returned from his journey in 1770. Captain Arthur Phillip, the commander of the fleet, brought a small party of marines and seamen ashore but found the location inappropriate because the harbor was unsafe and the area lacked fresh water.

The fleet then relocated to Port Jackson (New South Wales). On 21 January 1788 Phillip, with a party of officers and marines, landed at an unnamed place, believed to be beachfront at Camp Cove. This spot marks the first landing of members of the First Fleet within Port Jackson and the first known European landing in Sydney Harbour.

After moving further into the harbor, on 26 January 1788, Phillip raised the British flag at Sydney Cove. 751 criminals and their children landed, along with 252 marines and their families. Two more criminal fleets arrived in 1790 and 1791, and the first free settlers arrived in 1793. From 1788 to 1823, the Colony of New South Wales was officially a penal colony including predominantly criminals, soldiers and the wives of soldiers.

The early criminals were all sent to the colony, but by the mid-1800s they were also being sent directly to places such as Norfolk Island, Van Diemen's Land, Port Macquarie (New South Wales) and Moreton Bay (Queensland).

Twenty percent of these first criminals were women. Much of women criminals and many free women seeking employment were sent to the 'female factories' as unassigned women. The female factories were originally profit-making textiles.

As you can see from this essay, Australia wasn't always a close Nation but the political values and movements were significant in forming Australia's past which has helped shaped modern Australia. These movements both with political and Military stance, were important because without these events in our history, we wouldn't have a Federation and we wouldn't be the strong independent Nation we are today.