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Federation. By Steven, Belinda, Ruth, Maggie and Matt. The Act of Federation. Idea first put forth by Henry Parkes Before political level, federation was suggested by those coming to the 1850s gold rush 1890 Marked first Federation Convention for Australia
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Federation By Steven, Belinda, Ruth, Maggie and Matt
The Act of Federation • Idea first put forth by Henry Parkes • Before political level, federation was suggested by those coming to the 1850s gold rush • 1890 Marked first Federation Convention for Australia • Constitution built on American, British, Canadian and Swiss constitutions
The Act of Federation • From 1890 to 1900 was controversy about federating • 1900 when some women and aborigines were now able to vote, idea was accepted by public • 1st Jan 1901 Australia became a Commonwealth as a Constitutional Monarchy
Effects of the Federation • Brought about national powers: • Taxes – Banished tariffs on crossing borders • Telecommunication and postage – Improved efficiency for trains and national/international postage • Defense – Rather than 6 separate militaries • Foreign Affairs – Allowed “White Australia” idea to have more effect over whole country
History of Australian Federation Why did Australia become a Federation? • Six colonies joined together to make a federation • Australia became a federation 1901 • This was to protect Australia’s immense coastline from attack, toughen immigration laws, make uniform bank laws such as taxes • Australia became a federation through many conventions involving elected delegates from each state.
Who was Involved? THIS CHAMPION
Involvement • Henry Parkes = Father of Federation, why? Because, he brought the idea of federation into Australia; by giving a speech calling the six colonies to come together and untie. • Then, when Henry Parkes passed away, the idea of federation was put into action and the citizens voted whether they wanted the six colonies to come together. Federation got the thumbs up from the Queen and that is when….. • Edmund Barton, the first Prime Minister of Australia was elected in 1901.
History of a common law • The New South Wales Courts Act 1787 was shipped over from England with Lt. James Cook. This act was created to establish Australia’s first criminal court. • The charter of justice was developed in the same year. This document empowered the governor of New South Wales to give permission to any death sentence implicated by the court and to also give pardon to any person for their crimes.
The shaping of a constitution Constitution, the name had been uttered for 50 years now. It was only until 1885 that the idea of an Australian Constitution was recognized by the Australasian Federal Council. At first, the constitution was accepted by all states apart from New South Wales. It was then taken to a secret premiers meeting, revised, resubmitted and finally accepted by the populace of New South Wales.
The final touches It was only until 22 years ago that Australia broke the final chains that tethered it to the British courts with the instatement of the Commonwealth Australia Act.
LIVING CONDITIONS • There was no sense of Australia as a country or a nation. • Currencies were varied • Local police were actually local, and commanded themselves. If you got a bad and uncouth bunch, your bad luck. • No leaders apart from localised mayors and they worked for themselves and had ultimate power over the people in the town/area.
HALT AND FALTER • Many people did not like the idea of federation. Western Australia was against it, Queensland was at one point, and all of the smaller states were worried about not getting as much power as the lager states. • Solved by adapting a practice of the USA. Two houses of parliament. One, The House of Representatives. The Senate. • The House of, Reps would have members from each state represented in accordance with the number of residents. • The Senate would have equal representatives from each state. • A bill would have to pass through the House of Representatives first and then be approved by The Senate • Another issue was the location of the nations capital. Melbourne and Sydney fought over being the nations capital and in the end, they built a new city half way between the two. This was called Canberra. It was found in the ACT, or, the Australian Capital Territory.
NECESSITY Because the six different colonies were separated, they had there own railway systems, postal services, ruling authorities, telegraph services and so on and so forth.These became an inconvenience when people wanted to travel for work, family reasons, gold rushes and trade advantages.Also, because Australia was six separate colonies and did not have a common tie, we were very weak militarily. As I think I have mentioned before in this section, if anyone had decided to attack the country, they would have found it fairly easy. So the Australian people decided that they had safety in unity. If they stood together, they had a fighting chance. Also they're would be better public systems in the way of trains and buses.
Reasons for Not wanting a Federation • Didn’t want the White Australia policy- it would take away the Kanaka labour. • Thought all power would go to NSW & Vic. • Impacted economy if taxes were removed. • Previous experience was uninspiring.
Reasons for Wanting a Federation • Protection- Vast coastlines defenceless. • Easier to trade, communicate and travel. • Improve the Rail system- In the past, people had to reboard at the new state due to the rail size. • Would improve the economy.
