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Australian Social and Political Life to 1914

Coming of Age - Australia Becomes A Nation

On January 1 1901, The six British colonies in Australia were officially declared a 'Federation'. The significance of the day - The first of the new century and the first as a unified nation - was clear to people. Autralia had never seen a party like this one. Huge crowds gathered in the cities to be part of the celebrations. Towns and cities were decorated with Federation arches; ten were built in Sydney aloneto represent industries and nations that wished to commemorate the event. An eight-kilometre processionof bands, floats and dignitarieswound through Sydney's streets, which were lined with people waving British flags. A crowd of nearly 100 000 gathered in Centennial Park, clad in all their European-style finery on what was a hot summers day, to witness the Earl of Hopetoun, Australia's first Governor-General, swear in the new Federal Government and Australia's first Prime Minister, Edmund Barton.

In this chapter we will see how and why the six colonies took the significant step and moved foward into the twentieth century as a federation. We will examine the Constitution that provided the framework for Australia's new system of governmentand the stages by which voting rights were won by Australian women.

Separate Colonies, Different Identities

When Govenor Phillip arrived in Australia in 1788, the continent was home to around 300,000 Aboriginal people. They lived in hundreds of different regions, each based on particular language groups. The elders of each group had authority over its members.
   English law did not regognise the elders' authority or their prior occupation and the new arrivalsahd no understandingof Aboriginal regions. The Europeans brought their British laws ans traditions with them and drew up their own lines on maps. In stages over the next 100 years, six separate colonies were established, each with its own identity, its own form of government and its own links to Britian.
New South Wales (one of the Australian Colonies)
In 1788 New South Wales was the first colony to be established, and by the 1840s it had by far the largest population of all the colonies. At first, wool was its main export but, with the development of refrigeration in the 1880s, meat also became an important export. Power began to be supplied by steam engines and coal reaplaced wood as fuel. New South Wales had strong exports and developing industries. The government could raise money through selling the large amounts of available land and much of its industrial development was financed by capital investments by companies in Britian.
Victoria (another colony)
In 1835, John Batman and William Fawkner began a free settlement in Port Phillip. In 1839, Robert Hoddle drew up plans for the city of Melbourne, named after the British Prime Minister of the day. In 1850, with the passing of the Australian Colonies Govenment Act, Victoria separated from New South Wales.
Victoria went through a period of rapid expansion in the 1850's due to the gold rushes, and the population soared. Melbourne became a financial capital of Australia. It went through a building boom, both in magnificent public bulidings and in housing for the large population.
Victoria did not have as much land to sell as New South Wales, and came to rely on tariffs (taxes) on goods coming into the colony for govermant revenue and for protection of its developing industries. By 1887, Melbourne had over one million inhabitants and ranked as one of the greatest cities of the English-speaking world.