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The First Session of the National Australasian Convention
• The first session of the National Australasian convention is held in Adelaide to work towards building a federal constitution. All the colonies around the country attended except Queensland. -
Period: to
The Creation of Federation
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The Second Session
• The second session of the national Australasian convention is held in Sydney. -
The Third Session
• The third and final session of the National Australasian convention is held in Melbourne. Delegates agree on a draft constitution -
Premiers Meet
• The premiers of all the six colonies meet in Melbourne to discuss changes to the proposed constitution. Because it was a private meeting, it is called the ‘Secret Premiers’ conference. The meeting agrees to some changes to meet the concerns Queensland and New South Wales. It also decides to have Federal capital in New South Wales but not within 100 miles of Sydney. -
SA Referendum
• The south Australian referendum about Federation is won -
NSW referendum
• The New South Wales referendum is won -
VIC & TAS referendum
The Victorian and Tasmanian referendum are won. -
QLD referendum
• The Queensland referendum is won -
Constitution Bill passed
• The constitution bill is passed to Queensland -
Delegates invited to London
• Australian delegates are invited to London to negotiate the enactment of Britain on the Constitution bill. -
Delegates in London
• The first delegates meeting held in London. -
Conference of State Premiers
• A conference of state premiers is held in Melbourne to support the delegates in London. The meeting confirms that the delegate’s mission is to have the Constitution Bill passed in London in the form voted by the Australian people. -
Commonwealth Bill introduced
• The Commonwealth Bill is introduced to the House of Commons in London. -
British Parliament passes constitution act
• The Commonwealth of Australia constitution act is passed by the British Parliament. -
Queen gives assent
• Queen Victoria gives royal assent to the act. -
WA referendum
• The Western Australia referendum is won -
Queen procliams existence of Commonwealth
• Queen Victoria proclaims that the Commonwealth of Australia, made up of all six colonies, will come into existence on January 1st 1901 -
Lord Hopetoun
• Lord Hopetoun is appointed first Governor-General of Australia. -
Commonwealth Proclaimed
• The Commonwealth of Australia is proclaimed in the Centennial Park, Sydney. Edmund Barton is sworn in as the first Prime Minister. -
Queen Dies
• Queen Victoria dies and is succeeded by Edward vii. -
Government takes Control
• The Commonwealth Government takes control of a wide range of functions formerly exercised by the colonies including military forces, postal and customs department’s immigration. The commonwealth’s constitution powers include; the power to legislate about trade with other countries and among the states, taxation, customs, banking ,currency and coins, telegraphic and telephonic services, and the federal public service. -
First Federal Election
• The first federal election is held. Adult men are allowed to vote in all states, but aborigines and women can only vote in some states. -
Popualtion of Australia
• A census shows that the population of Australia is 3,773,800. Aborigines were not counted -
The First Federal Parliament opened
• The first Federal Parliament is opened by the Duke of Yorkshire. Federal parliament will meet in Melbourne until 1927 when the capital moves to Canberra -
New National Flag Flown
Australia new national flag is flown for the first time. There were 32,823 entries in the competition for its design.
