Australian Federation Research Paper

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Australia was originally a collection of six independent colonies and due to many reasons discussed in this essay, they drew together and became a Federation. Although the States still retain their own identities, it is as Australian's that we are united and identified against the rest of the world. Australia has become a recognized nation with political and military standing.

In 1787, a ship of criminals set out from England to establish a colony in Australia. Its main purpose was to relocate as many of the London pickpockets, petty thieves and small-time criminals as possible. The first fleet (as it is now known) arrived at Sydney Cove on 26th January 1788 under the leadership of Captain Arthur Phillip.
(Pearson History 9 page 118) …show more content…

Many South Australians, therefore, feared to go back under a federal system. 1890, Western Australia was granted self-government by Britain and was determined not to lose its new independence to a federal parliament on the other side of the continent. Supporters of the federation were faced with a difficult task trying to unite colonial politicians behind the idea of federation. However, as the century ended there were compelling reasons for Australian …show more content…

Deakin convinced the colonies to have another try at the Constitution of Federation but the only differences were that this time, people got to vote for the representative who would help to draw it up.

There were a lot of disagreements because the bigger richer states thought that they would have to share with the smaller poorer states, and the smaller states thought that they wouldn't get a say in decisions. The colonies also let people vote whether they wanted federation or not.

In 1899, all the colonies except for Western Australia had said "yes" and this time Australia would become a Nation. After a year of Federation, Western Australia agreed to join but by then the Constitution was already written and agreed by the Queen.

The Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory would come a few years after 1901 and with the change, the States retained a lot of their lawmaking and tax collecting powers. While the Federal Government would run things such as Defence and Immigration. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people weren't included in the Constitution and the new rules made it harder for people who weren't European, to migrate to

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