Federal Elections Under The New Australian Constitution example essay topic

How and why did Federation occur? The movement to Federation At the end of the 1800's, Australia was divided into six separate colonies instead of being one nation. But people had been talking for years about whether Australia should be one nation, and in the 1890's a series of meetings (called conventions or conferences) was held to discuss federation of the colonies. The Premier of New South Wales, Sir Henry Parkes, had announced in 1889 that the time had come to form a national parliament and government. There were many who did not agree, but by 1891 there was a convention held in Sydney to write a federal constitution. This was then sent back to the colonial parliaments for approval.

But at the same time, Parkes was losing the leadership of NSW and the issue of federation was no longer a top priority. Without the largest colony, the others could not proceed towards federation. In 1893, a conference was held in Corona on the Murray River and attended by politicians from NSW and Victoria, business representatives from Melbourne and people from Victorian branches of the Australian Natives Association, an organisation which wanted federation. John Quick, a lawyer from Bendigo, suggested that the whole process should start again, but with the people electing delegates to a new conference, which would then write a constitution and put it back to the people at referendums.

His scheme was accepted enthusiastically by the conference. There was then a meeting of colonial premiers in 1895 in Hobart and New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania accepted Quick's scheme. However, Western Australia's parliament agreed only that it would elect delegates to a convention (rather than having the people elect them) and Queensland could not agree and was eventually not represented at the convention at all. In 1897, elections were held to choose delegates to attend a convention to draw up a constitution.

The convention was held in three sessions in three places: Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne. This draft constitution was then put to the people at referendums. People in NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania voted twice. The first time all four colonies voted 'yes' but the vote was not high enough in NSW to satisfy the level set by the parliament. As a result, some changes were made to the proposed constitution and the vote was taken again. This time, the NSW 'yes' vote was high enough and the referendum was put to voters in Queensland and Western Australia, who also voted 'yes'.

Some of the delegates then had to take the draft constitution to London, so that it could be passed by the British Parliament. After some debate and argument in London it was passed. As a result, the Australian Constitution is in the form of an Act of the British Parliament. As it happened, Western Australia was not mentioned in the preamble to this Act, because Western Australia voted later than the other colonies and was too late to be included. The Commonwealth of Australia was proclaimed on 1 January 1901 at a ceremony at Centennial Park in Sydney. Arguments in favour of Federation included: All the colonies were British and most white people spoke English.

School systems (which had begun in the 1880s) were teaching patriotic songs, stories and verses. Many people moved between the colonies to find work. Customs duties hindered trade between the colonies. Laws could be enforced better if accused people could not escape to a neighbouring colony. Sporting teams had begun to represent Australia. Such a cricket team in 1877 had beaten England in a Test match.

Popular writers such as Henry Lawson were writing about Australia as a land and nation made by the struggles of ordinary people. Germany and France had colonies in New Guinea and the Pacific Islands and could pose a threat. Each Australian colony only had a small armed force. Influential politicians were strongly in favour of Federation and travelled the country giving speeches about it. Arguments against Federation included: New South Wales and Victoria were more powerful than the other colonies.

Each colony had its own characteristics that might be lost after Federation. All the colonies already had parliaments of their own. Federation would be expensive to achieve and a federated country would be expensive to run. The colonies had different policies about immigration, trade and other matters. Customs duties protected factories in the smaller colonies from goods made in factories in the larger colonies. The issue of trade One of the big issues about Federation concerned trade.

People found it annoying that they had to pay customs duties to take goods over the borders between colonies. Victoria had a policy of high duties so that it could protect its industries from overseas competition. New South Wales had a policy of low duties so that the cost of goods could be kept as low as possible and to encourage trade. New South Wales and Victoria, as the two largest colonies, were jealous of each other. Although they could agree that it would be better to have free trade within a new nation of Australia they could not agree about what to do about goods coming from overseas. Should they be taxed (in an effort to protect local industries) or should there be completely free trade?

The smaller colonies also had policies of protection but their customs duties were not as large as those of Victoria. This made New South Wales suspicious about joining a federation. As well, some people in New South Wales thought that since it was the oldest and largest colony, the other colonies should become part of New South Wales if they wanted to become one country. The issue of free trade versus protectionism threatened to stand in the way of Federation for some time in the 1890's. But it was resolved by leaving the issue to be decided after Federation had taken place. What are the main features of the Australian constitution?

The powers of the Federal Parliament are laid down in a written Constitution. State Parliaments are subject to the provisions of this as well as their own State Constitutions. The Australian Constitution can be changed only by referendum and then only if a majority of voters in at least four of the six States, as well as an overall national majority of voters, favour it. Before a referendum can be put to the people it must either be passed by both Houses of Parliament or, if one House refuses to pass it or passes it with amendments not agreed by the other House, it can be presented to the people by the Governor-General. Power to change State Constitutions lies with the State Parliaments and in most states requires endorsement by the people voting at referendums. The Federal Government The Federal Parliament is bicameral, having two chambers: the House of Representatives (Lower House) and the Senate (Upper House).

A system of Cabinet or "responsible" government based on the British Westminster tradition is practiced. The party or coalition of parties commanding a majority in the House of Representatives becomes the government and provides the ministers (including the Prime Minister), all of whom must be members of the Parliament. The Ministry remains collectively responsible to the Parliament, and through it to the electors, for Government actions. If the Government ceases to command a House of Representatives majority, it is obliged to go to an election or resign. A Government need not command a majority in the Senate which has an equal number of members from each State. The Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory were not represented in the Federal Parliament until 1975 when they each gained two Senators.

Normally, Senators serve a six-year term with half the Senate retiring every three years. Senators elected to represent the Territories, however, serve a maximum of three years and their terms coincide with those of the members of the House of Representatives. In Senate elections, the people of each State and Territory vote as single electorates. At a double dissolution election, all Senators retire and each State must elect 12 Senators. The first six selected each serve a six year term while the remaining six serve for three years. State and Territory Government All State parliaments except Queensland, which abolished its Upper House in 1922, are bicameral, with two Houses of Parliament.

The Lower House in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia is known as the Legislative Assembly; in South Australia and Tasmania it is called the House of Assembly. Each of the five State Upper Houses is known as the Legislative Council. Under the federal Constitution, State Governments are responsible for powers not administered by the Federal Government. These include education, transport, law enforcement, health services and agriculture. The Queen Australia is an independent nation and retains constitutional links with the Queen who is Queen of Australia. The Governor General and State Governors In addition to the Queen, there is a Governor-General and six State Governors.

Under the Constitution, the Governor-General's powers and duties include summoning, proroguing and dissolving Parliament, assenting to Bills, appointing Ministers, setting up Departments of State and appointing judges. By convention, however, the Governor-General acts only on the advice of Ministers in virtually all matters and the appointee to the office is selected on the advice of the Government. The six State Governors perform similar roles in their States. How did Federation affect Australia's links to England? Australians, with one foot planted firmly in each camp, saw no conflict in allegiance both to Britain and its newest Commonwealth nation, Australia. The flag chosen to represent the strong link Australians felt with Britain ultimately reflected both Australia and Empire but also held one detail that symbolized Australia's new international status.

The first design in 1901 had a six-pointed star to represent Australia's states but in 1908 the flag was changed to include a seven-pointed star, representing not only the six states but also Papua, Australia's newest territory. The model of government chosen by Australians enabled the young country to maintain strong links with Britain and this was demonstrated by the ceremony to open Australia's parliament. The authority to open the parliament and begin the new nation came from Britain and therefore, on 9 May 1901 in Victoria, the ultimate head of the Australian government, King George V, opened the parliament with all the pomp and ceremony of the British Empire. By the King's authority, Lord Hopetoun was appointed Australia's first Governor-General. Lord Hopetoun would carry out his duties on Australian soil while King George V was Australia's monarch 'in absentia'. The opening ceremony provided the royal seal of approval on the coming-of-age of the former colonies.

The aim of immigration had been to recruit new citizens from a common cultural background and many Australians still fondly referred to England as 'home'. For many Irish Australians, however, there would always be a conflict in that allegiance and this would become more apparent in the social changes that emerged during the First World War and in the 1920's. The spur to Federation had come from the problems that faced the colonies before 1901. The solutions were to be arrived at as a result of the combined resources of the new nation, working together as one, under the leadership of an elected federal parliament, independent of the British government. However, the growth in Australia of Australian political parties saw conservatives and radicals continuing to debate solutions needed to help Australia grow into an independent economic power in the world. Therefore, in 1901, Australia saw the birth of parties formed under the banners of free trade and protectionism.

As these two parties battled each other, the Australian Commission of Trade Unions began to consolidate the Labour Movement of the 1890's into a political party. This party would represent the workers of Australia and become the Australian Labor Party. Australia and the Boer War, 1899-1902 From the time of its acquisition by Britain during the Napoleonic wars, southern Africa had been shared between British colonies and independent republics of Dutch-Afrikaner settlers, known as Boers. Throughout the nineteenth century the two powers had maintained a wary co-existence, although increasingly the question became whether Britain or the Boers should control southern Africa. The two had already fought an inconclusive war in 1880. The discovery of gold and diamonds in the Boer republics in the 1880's intensified rivalry, and British imperial ambition and Boer independence resulted in friction that in 1899 provoked the Boers to attack, in order to forestall what they saw as an impending British conquest.

As part of the British Empire, the Australian colonies offered troops for the war in South Africa. At least 12,000 Australians served in contingents raised by the six colonies or (from 1901) by the new Australian Commonwealth (about a third of men enlisting twice), and many more joined British or South African colonial units in South Africa. At least 600 Australians died in the war, about half from disease and half in action. Which groups in Australian Society could not vote in 1901? In 1901, there were three groups in Australian society who did not have the right to vote in federal elections under the new Australian Constitution. These groups were Australia's indigenous people, Asian males and the entire female population of Australia.

By the 1890's all of Australia's colonies had given men and women the right to vote in the Lower House; however, property restrictions had existed for the Upper House. This parliamentary system was considered very democratic by world standards, but it fuelled an ongoing struggle between rich and poor for equal rights. The right to vote had even cost men their lives on the Victorian goldfields during the Eureka Rebellion of 1854. Australian men had demanded and won the right to full adult male suffrage under the secret ballot system, but full male suffrage was to exclude many Australians from a say in their country's growth. The Australian constitution of 1901 did not ensure that all Australians were 'equal under the Southern Cross', a phrase coined by those who fought for political equality in the Eureka Rebellion, under the flag of the Southern Cross. The ideal that all people were equal, had been just that; an ideal, too difficult to live up to when it came time to draw up the Constitution.

Those people who resented their poverty setting them apart from others and making them less worthy had no difficulty in seeing other groups of people as being even lower then themselves. It seemed at the turn of the century that the values of the British lass system had also been planted in Australia. The white-Australian worker drew the line at being seen as equal to the indigenous peoples of Australia or the Asian people who had come to Australia with their own culture and strong work ethic. The rights of the indigenous peoples and non-white immigrants were not considered nor protected, and their role in shaping the country was ignored.

It was not until 1902 that the women of Australia gained the right to vote for the Commonwealth government. Although some women had won the right to vote for their states before Federation, they had to renew the struggle to gain the right to vote in federal elections. It seemed that the writers of the Australian Constitution did not wish to launch the new country onto the international stage with universal suffrage. It was clear at this time that very few men had given thought to the protection of the rights of women under the Constitution. It is also clear that white-Australian women were also uninterested in extending the vote to indigenous or Asian women in Australia. How did women achieve voting rights?

The term suffrage refers to the mobilisation of the suffrage movement in America, England, Australia and New Zealand between 1880's and 1920's. The first wave of feminism created a new political identity for women with legal and political advances and social emancipation. A number of women's organisations were instrumental in the women's struggle for vote. The Australian Women's Suffrage Society was formed in 1889.

The aims of the society were to obtain the same rights for women as were possessed by male voters. The Society argued for equal justice, equal privileges in marriage and divorce, rights to property and the custody of children in divorce. Another key association in the struggle for equal voting rights has been The Women's Christian Temperance Union formed on the 16th November 1887. The Society sought social reforms which included establishing equal moral standards for both sexes.

In 1891 a women's suffrage petition with 30,000 signatures was presented to the Victorian Parliament by various Christian and suffrage societies. Here was the unusual spectacle of women uniting across class and political lines. Australian women's political activity centered around the various states in Australia and involved vigorous campaigns for the right to vote. New Zealand women had become the first in the world to gain the right to vote in the national election. In 1894 South Australian Women were granted the right to vote followed by Western Australia in 1899, NSW in 1902 and finally Victoria in 1908. Australian women (except Aboriginal women) were enfranchised for the new Commonwealth Parliament in 1901.

Women first voted in second Federal election in 1903. However, women were not eligible for election to the State parliaments until the end of the First World War. Women argued for enfranchisement on the basis of individual rights. The first wave of feminists were concerned with obtaining equality for women in the public sphere. They lobbied for political and civil rights equal to those of men and were concerned with the general emancipation and advancement of women. They were also concerned with the franchise, access to parliaments as votes and candidates.

They also demanded justice and freedom from a range of restrictions which were limiting their lives. Suffragists organised around many questions of social reform and matters affecting women at home and at work. Women attempted to speak for themselves and argue for full legal and civil equality, and for the personal freedom. They were concerned with the social and political changes necessary to provide a more equitable society. The struggle for the vote, and later battles for reproductive rights such as contraception and abortion, and family allowances, equal employment opportunities, education, respect for women's domestic labour aimed to improve women's domestic and public sphere. The campaign for the vote in the nineteenth century later embraced wider issues such as women's rights as workers, mothers, and women as citizens.

The anti-suffragist movement dwelt upon the supposed defects of intellect and temperament. Images of women politicians in the media attempted to portray women as absorbed with the trivial and domestic, and as emotional, selfish, and bad mothers. Anti-suffragists argued that women were too emotional and lacked broader political vision. They attempted to picture politics as unsuitable for women. Australian women were often depicted in the popular press as weak, and intellectually incapable of political decision making..