Federation

In 1901, all the individual colonies within Australia formed into one country this is called federation. "The British Parliament passed legislation enabling the six Australian colonies to collectively govern in their own right as the Commonwealth of Australia. It was a remarkable political accomplishment that had taken many years and several referenda to achieve," (National Museum of Australia, 2022)

Major Events on the Journey to Federation:

1889 Tenterfield oration

Sir Henry Parkes, Premier of New South Wales, gave a speech calling for ‘a great national government for all Australians’. This helped spark the Federation movement.

1890 Australasian Federation Conference

Representatives from each of the colonies and New Zealand met, and decided the colonies should unite to become a nation.

1891

A draft constitution for the new nation was written.

1897-98 Second National Australasian Convention

Representatives from each of the colonies (except Queensland and New Zealand, who had pulled out of the process) agreed to changes to the draft constitution.

1898 First referendum

Voters in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania were asked to approve a constitution for the new nation.

1899

In order to win the support of the New South Wales and Queensland premiers, changes were agreed to the draft constitution, including the location of the new national capital. All the colonies except Western Australia held referendums to approve to the proposed constitution and all the colonies agreed.

1901

On 1 January 1901, the colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia united and became the states of Australia, known as the Commonwealth of Australia.