Federation
Prior to Federation each of the Australian colonies was more like its own country with customs houses, railway gauges and even their own military. Colonial politicians like Alfred Deakin, Henry Parkes and Edmund Barton waged a long campaign to turn the six colonies of 3.7 million people into a country in its own right.
The Father of Federation
Henry Parkes (1815–1896) is often called the 'Father of Federation'. Parkes was five times the Premier of NSW and one of the most prominent men in colonial politics. In October 1889, in what became known as the 'Tenterfield Address' he called for the colonies to 'unite and create a great national government for all Australia'. His speech had an enormous effect on the movement toward Federation. Henry Parkes died in 1896 without ever seeing his dream realised.
The movement gathers momentum The movement had begun to gather real momentum after Henry Parkes wrote to the other premiers in 1889 and
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The following year a meeting was held in Melbourne, with a full 'National' convention in Sydney in 1891 at which a complete draft of the Australian Constitution was written and adopted. The first draft of the constitution is usually attributed to Sir Samuel Griffith, written aboard the Lucinda as it cruised down the Hawkesbury in 1891. Others have disputed this however, arguing that Griffith merely rewrote Andrew Inglis Clarke's 1891 draft constitution and, even then, made a mess of it. Whoever wrote it, the result was the same; a fairly dry but functional document which inspired few people to take an interest in it when it was put to a referendum in June 1898 in Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania and South
On September 28, 1787 Confederation Congress sent out the draft of the Constitution. This was the first time in history for the people to debate, discuss, and decide with a vote for how they wanted to be governed. There were two groups that debated the thought of the Constitution. They were called Federalists and anti-Federalists.
Australia before 1901 had 6 separate governments, each with their own rules, regulations and territory. There were certain rules and regulations which only further separated each government’s land beyond the distinguished borders of the newly formed state. For example the different widths of the train tracks. Which made the trades between colonies harder. As to trade between the colonies you had to unload one train at the border and reload another train across the border. These measures made sure that each colony had their rules enforced on their land. There was also how each colony raised funds for the government and their projects, this was so that each colony had the right amount of funding, to complete what they needed to without overtaxing the population.
Australia's federation came about through a process of deliberation, consultation and debate. Before 1901 Australia did not exist as a nation. It was six British colonies, which were self-governed, but under the power of the British Parliament. The colonies were almost like six separate countries. In the 1880s there was so much disorganisation within this system, which caused a belief that a national government was, needed to deal with issues such as trade, defence and immigration saw popular support for federation grow.
Being very different from the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution gave the foundation for the legislature and kept each branch in check, assuring none would become too powerful. With the large and small states finally in agreement, ratifying the constitution was the next step. September of 1787 the final draft, containing around 4,200 words, was created by the Committee of Style. George Washington was the first to sign the document on September 17th. Although 39 of the original 55 signed the document, the delegates of Massachusetts were unwilling to approve the document. Nine of the thirteen states had to ratify the document in order for it to become law. To help gain popularity for the Constitution, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay made essays. There were 85 total essays and they were distributed in newspapers across the states. Those who supported the document were referred to as Federalist and those who did not support the document were known as Anti-Federalist. The first states to ratify the Constitution were Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Connecticut. Massachusetts still strongly opposed the document, saying that freedom of speech, religion, and press were lacking protection. An agreement was made in February 1788 that the document would be amended to include what was lacking upon ratification. With hesitation,
When all things are considered, one can see the colonies didn't always agree with the way England handled things, in the area of religion, economics, politics, and social structure. Through their determination to obtain a better life for themselves, they ventured away from England and created their own nation over time.
Of course it is naïve to believe that Australians only developed an identity after the First World War, but it is true to say that it was changed forever. Before Australia became the Australia known today, it was a land of bush rangers, farmers and convicts; a penal colony that had ambitions of becoming a nation who self-governed and had unified defence and transport*. Before federation Australia had fought in Sudan and the Boer War to provide support to the mother country as it was thought to be a heroic endeavour that was a type of rite of passage (Australian War Memorial, n.d.) and there was a global perception of who and what Australians were. Upon federation the people were very consciously intent on building themselves into a great nation (Bean, 1993), but not to sever ties to Britain completely as mostly foreign policy relied on what the British government dictated (Rickard, 1992).
In 1931, Britain passed the Statue of Westminster which gave independence to the Australian parliament. Australia, however, did not ratify this law until 1942. As this law only applied the federal parliament, Britain passed the Australia Act, which gave independence to the states as well. The High Court of Australia is now the final court in deciding constitutional matters and the final court of appeal. Due to these laws, Australia has become an independent nation. However, it is believed that we are not truly independent due to our link with the British crown.
Before federation in 1901, Australia was not a nation. At that time, the Australian continent consisted of six British colonies (Western Australia, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria) that were somewhat self-governing, however still subject to the law-making power of the British Parliament. Each colony had its own government and laws, including its own rules and regulations on trade, transport and defence. This caused a lot of problems and people began to think about the benefits of uniting as one nation, under a federal system of governance. Under this system, powers would be distributed between a national government and the six States where the Constitution defines the boundaries of law-making powers between the Commonwealth and the States/Territories. One reason to federate was to achieve a united defence force which could better protect Australia. In the 1880s, Australian colonies became increasingly concerned with the large
Federation is the joining of states to become one nation. The Australian government first considered federation in 1890 when premier Henry Parkes convinced other premiers to discuss federation in the Australasian Federation Convention. Australia finally federated in 1901 after many failed attempts at doing so. Australia finally federated because
Australia is a bicameral federation Parliamentary democracy. Power is divided between the Commonwealth federal government and the six state governments. The Federal Parliament, or the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia, is the legislative branch. The Queen (represented by the Governor-General), the Senate (Upper House) and the House of Representatives (Lower House) make up the Federal Parliament. The Federal Parliament includes two separate chambers: The House of Representatives and the Senate. The Senate represent the six States and the two self-governing Territories while the members of the House represent electoral divisions according to population. The House of Representatives consists of 150 members, each elected from single member
The first step of the Constitution was undemocratic. No popular vote was taken either directly or indirectly on the proposition to approve a convention (Beard 14). The group of men who wanted the convention was skillful in getting it approved in that their proposal of it was a surprise. This gave the Federalists an upper hand. Their opponents, the Anti-Federalists, could not refuse to a discussion of possible, and perhaps necessary, reforms. By refusing, they could lose the support of the public very easily (Roche 18).
events gave a rise to the movement by influencing public opinion toward the reform of
The United States Constitution was written up by delegates at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, when many of the country's leaders realized that the Articles of Confederation, the set of laws that the country had been following up until that point, were creating more problems than solutions. Once it was written, and approved and signed by delegates in 1787, it was sent to the 13 states for ratification. But many of the states saw flaws in the document, and refused to agree to it until changes were made. Both the writers of the Constitution and it's critics were invaluable to the shaping of the final document.
Imagine an America pulling away from British. Imagine a man with massive amounts of knowledge of economics, politics and social systems who stood up against the Brits, and supported the Constitution. That man was Alexander Hamilton. Alexander Hamilton was founding father, federalist, economist, and American philosopher. Alexander Hamilton has influenced many modern days ideas, from the way America should be ruled, to how a country should always have a five point plan, and finally basics American Philosophy.
It all started in 1859. Australia was slowly becoming populated with European pioneers who sought the newness of the great, unsettled continent. However, there were a few things from home from which they just couldn’t part.