The Change of the Division of Powers in Australia since 1901.

The decision for Australia to adopt the Federal system was on the principle of which the State’s governments wanted to keep their power. For this reason there was the separation of powers between the newly formed Commonwealth government and the existing State governments. At a constitutional level, there are rulings in which the powers are separated, these rulings due to disputes have slightly changed since 1901. These changes all fell towards the one government, the Commonwealth (Federal) government. However this was not just a landslide event, the Constitution of Australia set up this imbalance of powers between the Commonwealth and State governments. We will explore this further in the points discussed later in this essay.

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.

After 1901 the federal system was introduced into the Australian system. This meant that the formerly separate governments would have to cohesively work together under a new, Commonwealth government. For Australia the federal system was a matter of ...

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...his made it hardly noticeable upon first glance by the public. It is only with hindsight which we are able to see how much the division has changed since 1901. To some it might seem only slight, but to the politicians who experienced these changes first hand they were, for the states, a loss of power, and for the Commonwealth a victory of power.

At the start of Australian Federation, there was already an imbalance of powers, to which many did not realise the impact this would have on the future of Australia as a nation. This imbalance changed ever so slightly with many a dispute but also just shifts towards support of the political party which the politicians serve instead of the state in which they represent. This all led to the Commonwealth having most of the power in Australia, and the State governments being financially dependent on the Commonwealth government.