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When Voting Started
Nevertheless, by the late 1850s several Australian colonies had adopted constitutions that were the most advanced in the world. A second period of democratizing followed in the 1890s, and in 1901 the federated Australian nation was created on the assumption of universal suffrage. -
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When was the constitution approved.
The Constitution was approved by a vote of the Australian people in referendums held in each colony between June 1899 and July 1900. It was then agreed to by the British Parliament. -
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first prime minister of Australia. (Edmund Barton)
One of the key architects of Australia's Constitution, Barton became the new nation's first Prime Minister at a grand ceremony in Centennial Park, Sydney, on 1 January 1901. He retained this role after the first federal election in March 1901, where he was elected the member for Hunter.