-
Captain Cook claims Australia for Britain
-
The first fleet arrives
-
The six colonies
In 1860 there were six colonies who were separate from each other. If you wanted to catch a train from Victoria to Queensland you would have to hop off half way and hop on a different train because the tracks were different in different colonies. -
Henry Parkes
In 1889 Henry Parkes gave a speech about Australia becoming independent from Britain. This speech was at Tenterfield. He worked hard to help Australia become a federated nation. He died before Australia became a Federal country. -
Moving towards Federation (Arguments FOR)
One argument for Federation was that Australia should have one big Parliament. It would be a Federal Government.
Another argument was that Australia needed better police laws. People were escaping to different colonies because they didn't want to get in trouble. There needed to be a Federal Police and a strong law with the police. -
Moving towards Federation (Arguments AGAINST)
There were a lot of special things about each of the colonies. They were worried that they would disappear if there was Federation. Another reason against Federation was they thought it would be too expensive. -
The First Referendum
A special vote called a referendum was hald so that people in the colonies could vote on the new laws for a Federation.Queenland and Westen Australia did not take part, and in New South Wales it did not get approved.The premiers met in 1899 to find ways to convince the other colonies. -
Federation Begins
The new law was passed and Australia became a Federation on January 1st. 1901. Australia was now called the "Commonwealth of Australia" and was separated from Britain. Australia now had a Federal Parliament and the colonies became States. The first govenor general in Australia was Lord Hopetoun and the first Prime Minister of Australia was Edmund Barton.
