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Henry Parkes supports federation
Henry Parkes expresses support to start a Federal council to bring the colonies together to agree on shared laws. At this time, each colony had its own laws, military etc. -
Federation conference
In January 1881, a conference was held in Sydney to discuss federation. Colonies such as New South Wales believed in free trade, whereas Victoria supported a 'protectionism policy' in which government taxes were imposed on goods imported from other colonies to encourage people to support local industry. Despite the conference being called to address this contentious issue, it went down in history as the first time the idea of a federal council was put forward. -
Henry Parkes' speech
Henry Parkes was also known as the father of federation. He came up with the idea of federation and made a speech in 1889 known as “The Tenterfield Address”. Henry Parkes called for the colonies to unite and create a national government for Australia. -
Premiers meeting
The federation movement gathered momentum and a meeting of premiers was held in Sydney. At the National convention a complete draft of the Australian Constitution was written and adopted. -
Henry Parkes death
After a life spent promoting the Federation movement, Henry Parks died in 1896. It is sad the Henry never got to see his dream become reality. -
First referendum on The Australian Constitution
A referendum was held so people in the colonies could vote on the constitution. QLD and WA did not take part and in NSW it did not get approved. -
The premiers meet again
The premiers met to find ways of meeting the concerns of these threes colonies. The amended constitution was put to a second round of referendums. There was a lot of public interest and this time the referendums were successful. -
The Australian Constitution
The Australian Constitution was passed as a British Act of Parliament in 1900. It was called the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act. -
The Commonwealth of Australia was proclaimed
The Commonwealth of Australia was proclaimed on 1 Jan 1901 in Central Park, Sydney by Lord Hopetown, the first Governor General. Edmund Barton became the first Prime Minister of Australia.
