Federation In Australia example essay topic

Federation in Australia was a long, hard and controversial process. Suggestions of Federation had been made since the early 1800's. However, due to the split opinions of the public, it was not until January 1st 1901 that the colonies united and federation took place. As with any change in government, federation presented both positive and negative outcomes. However in the end, the advantages of federation were so immense that they simply outweighed the disadvantages. Advantages in immigration, trade, foreign policy, defence and a growing feeling of nationalism were some of the many reasons why the people of Australia decided to federate.

Different immigration policies between the different colonies created problems. An example of this was the problem of Chinese Immigrants in the goldfields. Victoria had banned Chinese immigrants, whereas South Australia had no policies against immigrants from that area. This meant that people from China could come to South Australia and then make their way over to the Victorian goldfields. The only way to fix the problem with Immigration was to create a common policy and to federate. Each colony had its own trading policies.

These differences caused disadvantages when it came to buying and selling products to consumers from different colonies. The increasing number of imports and exports in each colony forced the people to consider creating common policies between colonies. Britain controlled foreign policy in Australia and did not always act in Australia's best interest in issues concerning Foreign Affairs. An example of this was in 1883 when Queensland took over the Southeast of New Guinea. Britain disallowed this annexation and as a result Germany was able to claim the Northeast if New Guinea in 1884. Sir Henry Parkes along with many other Australians believed that if Australia had been a nation in 1883, the whole of New Guinea could have been theirs.

The Australian colonies would have a better defense if there was one army and navy to protect the whole country. Individually each colony was weak but if they pooled their resources they would be stronger. It was not practical for each colony to have its own army and navy, so federation was seen as an advantage for defence. Australian national feeling was growing stronger. There was a growing sense of Australian nationalism. By 1881, 69% of the people in Australia had been born here and had never had any direct experience with England.

Australia was their homeland and they were proud of it. They wanted to become a nation separate from Britain. The first step towards federation took place in 1883 when all of the colonies attended a convention to discuss the idea of a federated Australia. A Federal Council was created in 1885, however it had little funding and was quite feeble. In 1889, Sir Henry Parkes (known as the father of federation) announced that he believed Australia should form a national parliament and government. His statement was very controversial and was met with both positive and negative reactions.

In the 1891 delegates from each of the six colonies, attended a conference in Sydney to discuss the idea of federation and to put forward suggestions on how the government would be run. From 1897 to 1899 two draft constitutions were made and put forward in referendums, however not all of the colonies agreed to them. Then in 1900 the last colony, Western Australia, decided to join the federation and a constitution was agreed upon. With support from the majority of the people the Commonwealth of Australia was proclaimed on the 1st January 1901 at a ceremony at Centennial Park in Sydney. For Australia, the road to federation was a very long one.

Yet in comparison to the struggles of other countries fighting for independence, Australia is one of the lucky ones. Australia's separation from Britain was a peaceful one, filled with discussion and debate, not hostility and war. When we look back now at the Federation of Australia we think of this outcome to have been inevitable. The advantages of Federation were so obvious and the links between the colonies were so strong, it seems as if federation was the only sensible thing to do. However this was not necessarily the case. How fortunate we are that the founding fathers of our country went through the long, hard process of a peaceful federation.