Australia Becoming Federation Essay

464 Words2 Pages
It could be argued that Australia becoming a Federation was a stupid thing to do but most people agree that it was a great idea. Some of the reasons can include trade (NSW/Victoria rivalry), communication and fear of invasion by Germany. On January 1, 1901, Australia’s six self-governing colonies became states in a Federal Commonwealth. In other words, January 1st, 1901, is when Australia became a Federation. For over fifty years many individuals had dreamed of this and occasionally false starts were made, but it wasn’t until the 1890’s that the Federation movement gathered momentum. The inauguration of the Commonwealth was the end of a chapter in Australia’s history as well as the start of a new one. The need for Federation was a consequence…show more content…
In September, 1846, there were discussions in the Legislative Council in NSW as to the need for some control to be made over “intercolonial legislation.” Two weeks later, Governor Fitz Roy suggested “some superior functionary” be appointed, with the power to review and, if necessary, disallow legislation of all colonies on anything other than local matters. These suggestions have been regarded as the first move towards Federation. The next move came from Britain, when, in 1847, Earl Grey, then the Secretary of State for the colonies, suggested a “central authority” be created in Australia to regulate matters affecting more than one colony. Then, in November 1880, an intercolonial conference in Melbourne, attended by representatives from NSW, SA and Victoria, agreed to resolutions moved by Henry Parkes in favour of the establishment of a Federal Council. As you can tell by reading this, there were many reasons how and why Australia became a Federation. There are also mentioned reasons that held back the ‘go ahead’ of the Federation movement. A lot of interesting information was gathered and use for this ‘discussion’ and a lot was learned from
Open Document