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first federation election
On march 20 1901 the first federal elections were held. As a clause in the constitution enfranchised people who could vote for the lower house of their state parliament, Aboriginal Australians (in SA,NSW,Vic and Tas) and women (in SA and WA) were able to vote with men (in all states) in this election. Once the Australian constitution had been accepted by voters in the Australian colonies and enacted as law by british parliament. -
first federal budget
The first federal elections for the new Parliament, which consisted of 36 senators and 75 members of the House of Representatives, were held on 29 and 30 March 1901. The Protectionist Party, who won 32 seats in the House of Representatives, formed a minority government with the support of other members in the House. Their leader, Edmund Barton, became the first Prime Minister. The Protectionist Party wanted to protect, or support, local industries by charging tariffs (taxes) on imported goods. -
Final session of the council
It was in 1899, they met eight times between 1886 and 1889. They had a secret meeting in Melbourne two days after the final meeting of federal council where they agreed to six amendments to the constitution bill including that the site of Australia's capital is somewhere in NSW greater than a hundred miles from Sydney.
