The federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia formed a federation. When the Constitution of Australia came into force, on 1 January 1901, the colonies collectively became states of the Commonwealth of Australia.
The efforts to bring about federation in the mid 19th century was dogged by the lack of popu...
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The federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia formed a federation. When the Constitution of Australia came into force, on 1 January 1901, the colonies collectively became states of the Commonwealth of Australia.
The efforts to bring about federation in the mid 19th century was dogged by the lack of popular support for the movement. A number of conventions were held during the 1890s to develop a constitution for the Commonwealth. Sir Henry Parkes, Premier of New South Wales, was instrumental in this process. Fiji and New Zealand were originally part of this process, but decided not to join the federation.
Sir Edmund Barton was the caretaker Prime Minister of Australia at the inaugural 1901 federal election at which he retained the Prime Ministership.
A serious movement for federation of the colonies arose in the late 1880s, a time when there...
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