FEDERATION !
Australia used to be controlled by England but in 1901 we
formed a federation. In this case a federation is where a group of
states decided to come together and form an independent country. Fiji
and New Zealand were originally meant to be part of the federation
but decided not to join.
In the 1880’s people started to become more proud to be
Australian. Australia was also influenced by other Federations
around the world and decided to become one too.
A referendum was held in all states of Australia and these are
the results:
referendum NSW Qld SA Tas Vic WA total
yes 71,595 35,800 11,797 100,520 219,712
1898
no 66,228 17,320 2,716 22,099 108,363
yes 107,420 38,488 65,900 13,437 152,653 377,898
1899
no 82,741 30,996 17,953 791 9,805 142,286
yes 44,800 44,800
1900
no 19,691 19,691
After federation the new constitution became established. The
new government was made up of a senate and house of representatives,
and Sir Edmund Barton Became Australia’s first Prime minister.
The location of a federal capital was debated between Sydney
and Melbourne so they compromised and created a new state and
called it the ACT (Australian Capital Territory).
The new Parliament house was placed in Canberra, the capital
city!