======================================================================
= Federation of Australia =
======================================================================
Introduction
======================================================================
The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate
British self-governing colonies of Queensland, New South Wales,
Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia (which also governed what is now
the Northern Territory), and Western Australia agreed to unite and
form the Commonwealth of Australia, establishing a system of
federalism in Australia. The colonies of Fiji and New Zealand were
originally part of this process, but they decided not to join the
federation. Following federation, the six colonies that united to form
the Commonwealth of Australia as states kept the systems of government
(and the bicameral legislatures) that they had developed as separate
colonies, but they also agreed to have a federal government that was
responsible for matters concerning the whole nation. When the
Constitution of Australia came into force, on 1 January 1901, the
colonies collectively became states of the Commonwealth of Australia.
The efforts to bring about federation in the mid-19th century were
dogged by the lack of popular support for the movement. A number of
conventions were held during the 1890s to develop a constitution for
the Commonwealth. Sir Henry Parkes, Premier of the Colony of New South
Wales, was instrumental in this process. Sir Edmund Barton, second
only to Parkes in the length of his commitment to the federation
cause, was the caretaker Prime Minister of Australia at the inaugural
national election in March 1901. The election returned Barton as prime
minister, though without a majority.
This period has lent its name to an architectural style prevalent in
Australia at that time, known as Federation architecture, or
Federation style.
Early calls for federation
======================================================================
As early as 1842, an anonymous article in the 'South Australian
Magazine' called for a "Union of the Australasian Colonies into a
Governor-Generalship."
In September 1846, the NSW Colonial Secretary Sir Edward Deas Thomson
suggested federation in the New South Wales Legislative Council. The
Governor of New South Wales, Sir Charles Fitzroy, then wrote to the
United Kingdom's Colonial Office suggesting a "superior functionary"
with power to review the legislation of all the colonies. In 1853,
FitzRoy was appointed as Governor of Van Diemen's Land, South
Australia and Victoria - a pre-federation governor-general of
Australia, with wide-ranging powers to intervene in inter-colonial
disputes. This title was also extended to his immediate successor,
William Denison.
In 1847 the Secretary of State for the Colonies Earl Grey drew up a
plan for a "General Assembly" of the colonies. The idea was quietly
dropped. However, it prompted the statesman William Wentworth to
propose in the following year the establishment of "a Congress from
the various Colonial Legislatures" to legislate on "inter-colonial
questions".
On 28 July 1853, a select committee formed by Wentworth to draft a new
constitution for New South Wales proposed a General Assembly of the
Australian Colonies. This assembly was proposed to legislate on
intercolonial matters, including tariffs, railways, lighthouses, penal
settlements, gold and the mail. This was the first outline of the
future Australian Commonwealth to be presented in an official colonial
legislative report.
On 19 August 1857, Deas Thomson moved for a NSW Parliamentary Select
Committee on the question of Australian federation. The committee
reported in favour of a federal assembly being established, but the
government changed in the meantime, and the question was shelved.
Also in 1857, in England, William Wentworth founded the "General
Association for the Australian Colonies", whose object was to obtain a
federal assembly for the whole of Australia. While in London,
Wentworth produced a draft Bill proposing a confederation of the
Australian colonies, with each colony given equal representation in an
intercolonial assembly, a proposal subsequently endorsed by his
association. He further proposed a "permissive Act" be passed by
Parliament allowing the colonies of Australia or any subset of them
which was not a penal settlement to federate at will. Wentworth,
hoping to garner as broad support as possible, proposed a loose
association of the colonies, which was criticised by Robert Lowe. The
secretary of state subsequently opted not to introduce the Bill
stating it would probably lead to "dissension and discontent",
distributing it nonetheless to the colonies for their responses. While
there was in-principle support for a union of the colonies, the matter
was ultimately deferred while NSW Premier Charles Cowper and Henry
Parkes preferred to focus on liberalising Wentworth's
squatter-friendly constitution.
Federal Council of Australasia
================================
A serious movement for Federation of the colonies arose in the late
1880s, a time when there was increasing nationalism amongst
Australians, the great majority of whom were native-born. The idea of
being Australian began to be celebrated in songs and poems. This was
fostered by improvements in transport and communications, such as the
establishment of a telegraph system between the colonies in 1872. The
Australian colonies were also influenced by other federations that had
emerged around the world, particularly the United States and Canada.
Sir Henry Parkes, then colonial secretary of New South Wales, first
proposed a Federal Council body in 1867. After it was rejected by the
British Secretary of State for the Colonies, the Duke of Buckingham,
Parkes brought up the issue again in 1880, this time as the premier of
New South Wales. At the conference, representatives from Victoria, New
South Wales and South Australia considered a number of issues
including federation, communication, Chinese immigration, vine
diseases and uniform tariff rates. The Federation had the potential to
ensure that throughout the continent, trade and interstate commerce
would be unaffected by protectionism and measurement and transport
would be standardised.
The final (and successful) push for a Federal Council came at an
Intercolonial Convention in Sydney in November and December 1883. The
trigger was the British rejection of Queensland's unilateral
annexation of New Guinea and the British Government wish to see a
federalised Australasia. The convention was called to debate the
strategies needed to counter the activities of the German and French
in New Guinea and in New Hebrides. Sir Samuel Griffith, the premier of
Queensland, drafted a bill to constitute the Federal Council. The
conference successfully petitioned the Imperial Parliament to enact
the 'Federal Council of Australasia Act 1885'.
As a result, a Federal Council of Australasia was formed, to represent
the affairs of the colonies in their relations with the South Pacific
islands. New South Wales and New Zealand did not join. The
self-governing colonies of Queensland, Tasmania and Victoria, as well
as the Crown Colonies of Western Australia and Fiji, became involved.
South Australia was briefly a member between 1888 and 1890. The
Federal Council had powers to legislate directly upon certain matters,
and did so to effect the mutual recognition of naturalisations by
colonies, to regulate labour standards in the employment of Pacific
Island labour in fisheries, and to enable a legal suit to be served
outside the colony in which it was issued, "a power valuable in
matters ranging from absconding debtors to divorce proceedings". But
the Council did not have a permanent secretariat, executive powers, or
any revenue of its own. Furthermore, the absence of the powerful
colony of New South Wales weakened its representative value.
Nevertheless, it was the first major form of inter-colonial
co-operation. It provided an opportunity for Federalists from around
the country to meet and exchange ideas. The means by which the Council
was established endorsed the continuing role that the Imperial
Parliament would have in the development of Australia's constitutional
structure. In terms of the 'Federal Council of Australia Act', the
Australian drafters established a number of powers dealing with their
common interests which would later be replicated in the Australian
Constitution, especially section 51.
Early opposition
==================
The individual colonies, Victoria excepted, were somewhat wary of
Federation. Politicians, particularly those from the smaller colonies,
disliked the very idea of delegating power to a national government;
they feared that any such government would inevitably be dominated by
the more populous New South Wales and Victoria. Queensland, for its
part, worried that the advent of race-based national legislation would
restrict the importing of kanaka labourers, thereby jeopardising its
sugar cane industry.
These were not the only concerns of those resistant to federation.
Smaller colonies also worried about the abolition of tariffs, which
would deprive them of a large proportion of their revenue, and leave
their commerce at the mercy of the larger states. New South Wales,
traditionally free-trade in its outlook, wanted to be satisfied that
the federation's tariff policy would not be protectionist. Victorian
Premier James Service described fiscal union as "the lion in the way"
of federation.
A further fundamental issue was how to distribute the excess customs
duties from the central government to the states. For the larger
colonies, there was the possibility (which never became an actuality)
that they could be required to subsidise the struggling economies of
Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia.
Even without the concerns, there was debate about the form of
government that a federation would take. Experience of other
federations was less than inspiring. In particular, the United States
had experienced its traumatic civil war.
The nascent Australian labour movement was less than wholly committed
in its support for federation. On the one hand, nationalist sentiment
was strong within the labour movement and there was much support for
the idea of White Australia. On the other hand, labour representatives
feared that federation would distract attention from the need for
social and industrial reform, and further entrench the power of the
conservative forces. The federal conventions included no
representatives of organised labour. In fact, the proposed federal
constitution was criticised by labour representatives as being too
conservative. These representatives wanted to see a federal government
with more power to legislate on issues such as wages and prices. They
also regarded the proposed senate as much too powerful, with the
capacity to block attempts at social and political reform, much as the
colonial upper houses were quite openly doing at that time.
Religious factors played a small but not trivial part in disputes over
whether federation was desirable or even possible. As a general rule,
pro-federation leaders were Protestants, while Catholics' enthusiasm
for federation was much weaker, not least because Parkes had been
militantly anti-Catholic for decades (and because the labour movement
was disproportionately Catholic in its membership). For all that, many
Irish could feel an attractive affinity between the cause of Home Rule
in Ireland - effectively federalizing the United Kingdom - and the
federation of the Australian colonies. Federationists such as Edmund
Barton, with the full support of his righthand man Richard O'Connor,
were careful to maintain good relations with Irish opinion.
Early constitutional conventions
======================================================================
In the early 1890s, two meetings established the need for federation
and set the framework for this to occur. An informal meeting attended
by official representatives from the Australasian colonies was held in
1890. This led to the first National Australasian Convention, meeting
in Sydney in 1891. New Zealand was represented at both the conference
and the Convention, although its delegates indicated that it would be
unlikely to join the Federation at its foundation, but it would
probably be interested in doing so at a later date.
Australasian Federal Conference of 1890
=========================================
The Australasian Federal Conference of 1890 met at the instigation of
Parkes. Accounts of its origin commonly commence with Lord Carrington,
the Governor of New South Wales, goading the ageing Parkes at a
luncheon on 15 June 1889. Parkes reportedly boasted that he "could
confederate these colonies in twelve months". Carrington retorted,
"Then why don't you do it? It would be a glorious finish to your
life." Parkes the next day wrote to the Premier of Victoria, Duncan
Gillies, offering to advance the cause of Federation. Gillies's
response was predictably cool, given the reluctance of Parkes to bring
New South Wales into the Federal Council. In October Parkes travelled
north to Brisbane and met with Griffith and Sir Thomas McIlwraith. On
the return journey, he stopped just south of the colonial border, and
delivered the historic Tenterfield Oration on 24 October 1889, stating
that the time had come for the colonies to consider Australian
federation.
Through the latter part of 1889, the premiers and governors
corresponded and agreed for an informal meeting to be called. The
membership was: New South Wales, Parkes (Premier) and William McMillan
(Colonial Treasurer); Victoria, Duncan Gillies (Premier) and Alfred
Deakin (Chief Secretary); Queensland, Sir Samuel Griffith (Leader of
the Opposition) and John Murtagh Macrossan (Colonial Secretary); South
Australia, Dr. John Cockburn (Premier) and Thomas Playford (Leader of
the Opposition); Tasmania, Andrew Inglis Clark (Attorney-General) and
Stafford Bird (Treasurer); Western Australia, Sir James George Lee
Steere (Speaker); New Zealand, Captain William Russell (Colonial
Secretary) and Sir John Hall.
When the conference met at the Victorian Parliament in Melbourne on 6
February, the delegates were confronted with a scorching summer
maximum temperature of 39.7 °C in the shade. The Conference debated
whether or not the time was ripe to proceed with federation.
While some of the delegates agreed it was, the smaller states were not
as enthusiastic. Thomas Playford from South Australia indicated the
tariff question and lack of popular support as hurdles. Similarly, Sir
James Lee Steere from Western Australia and the New Zealand delegates
suggested there was little support for federation in their respective
colonies.
A basic question at this early assembly was how to combine federalism
and responsible government. Parkes suggested the Canadian model, which
federated with the 'British North America Act, 1867', to be similarly
adopted in Australia. However, delegates from the smaller states were
not enthusiastic, with John Alexander Cockburn of South Australia
seeing the Canadian model as a "coercive" and "homogeneous National
Union". Andrew Inglis Clark, a long-time admirer of American federal
institutions, introduced the US Constitution as an example of the
protection of States' rights. He presented it as an alternative to the
Canadian model, arguing that Canada was "an instance of amalgamation
rather than Federation." A model closer to that of the United States
was endorsed, with states able to act completely independently apart
from those limited powers transferred to the federal government and
where each state would be represented equally in a strong second
chamber—the Senate.
Clark's draft constitution
============================
Andrew Inglis Clark had given considerable thought towards a suitable
constitution for Australia. In May 1890, he travelled to London to
conduct an appeal on behalf of the Government of Tasmania before the
Privy Council. During this trip, he began writing a draft
constitution, taking the main provisions of the British North America
Act, 1867 and its supplements up through 1890, the US Constitution,
the Federal Council of Australasia Act, and various Australian
colonial constitutions. Clark returned from London by way of Boston,
Massachusetts, where he held discussions about his draft with Oliver
Wendell Holmes Jr., and Moncure Conway among others.
Clark's draft introduced the nomenclature and form which was
subsequently adopted:
* The Australian Federation is described as the Commonwealth of
Australia
* There are three separate and equal branches - the Parliament, the
Executive, and the Judicature.
* The Legislature consists of a House of Representatives and a Senate
* It specified the separation of powers and the division of powers
between the Federal and State governments.
Upon his return to Hobart in early November 1890, with the technical
aid of W. O. Wise, the Tasmanian Parliamentary Draftsman, Clark
completed the final form of the Draft Constitution and had a number of
copies printed. In February 1891, Clark circulated copies of his draft
to Parkes, Barton and probably Playford as well. This draft was always
intended to be a private working document, and was never published.
The National Australasian Convention of 1891
==============================================
The Parliament proposed at the Convention of 1891 was to adopt the
nomenclature of the United States Congress; a House of Representatives
and a Senate. The House of Representatives was to be elected by
districts drawn up on the basis of their population, while in the
Senate there was to be equal representation for each "province". This
American model was mixed with the Westminster system by which the
Prime Minister and other ministers would be appointed by the
representative of the British Crown from among the members of the
political party holding a majority in the lower House.
Griffith identified with great clarity at the Sydney Convention
perhaps the greatest problem of all: how to structure the relationship
between the lower and upper houses within the Federal Parliament. The
main division of opinion centred on the contention of Alfred Deakin,
that the lower house must be supreme, as opposed to the views of
Barton, John Cockburn and others, that a strong Senate with
co-ordinate powers was essential. Griffith himself recommended that
the doctrine of responsible government should be left open, or
substantially modified to accord with the Federal structure.
Over the Easter weekend in 1891, Griffith edited Clark's draft aboard
the Queensland Government's steam yacht 'Lucinda'. (Clark was not
present, as he was ill with influenza in Sydney). Griffith's draft
Constitution was submitted to colonial parliaments but it lapsed in
New South Wales, after which the other colonies were unwilling to
proceed.
Griffith or Clark?
====================
The importance of the draft Constitution of 1891 was recognised by
John La Nauze when he flatly declared that "The draft of 1891 is the
Constitution of 1900, not its father or grandfather." In the
twenty-first century, however, a lively debate has sprung up as to
whether the principal credit for this draft belongs to Queensland's
Sir Samuel Griffith or Tasmania's Andrew Inglis Clark. The debate
began with the publication of Peter Botsman's 'The Great
Constitutional Swindle: A Citizen's Guide to the Australian
Constitution' in 2000, and a biography of 'Andrew Inglis Clark' by
F.M. Neasey and L.J. Neasey published by the University of Tasmania
Law Press in 2001.
The traditional view attached almost sole responsibility for the 1891
draft to Griffith. Quick and Garran, for instance, state curtly that
Griffith "had the chief hand in the actual drafting of the Bill".
Given that the authors of this highly respected work were themselves
active members of the federal movement, it may be presumed that this
view representsif not the complete truththen, at least, the consensus
opinion among Australia's "founding fathers".
In his 1969 entry on "Clark, Andrew Inglis (1848-1907)" for the
'Australian Dictionary of Biography', Henry Reynolds offers a more
nuanced view:
Clark's supporters are quick to point out that 86 Sections (out of a
total of 128) of the final Australian Constitution are recognisable in
Clark's draft, and that "only eight of Inglis Clark's ninety-six
clauses failed to find their way into the final Australian
Constitution"; but these are potentially misleading statistics. As
Professor John Williams has pointed out:
As to who was responsible for the actual detailed drafting, as
distinct from the broad structure and framework of the 1891 draft,
John Williams (for one) is in no doubt:
Australasian Federal Convention of 1897–98
======================================================================
The apparent enthusiasm of 1891 rapidly ebbed in the face of
opposition from Henry Parkes' rival, George Reid, and the sudden
advent of the Labor Party in NSW, which commonly dismissed federation
as a "fad". The subsequent revival of the federal movement owed much
to the growth of federal leagues outside of capital cities, and, in
Victoria, the Australian Natives' Association. The Border Federation
League of Corowa held a conference in 1893 which was to prove of
considerable significance, and a "People's Convention" in Bathurst in
1896 underlined the cautious conversion of George Reid to the federal
cause. At the close of the Corowa Conference John Quick had advanced a
scheme of a popularly elected convention, tasked to prepare a
constitution, which would then be put to a referendum in each colony.
Winning the support of George Reid, premier of NSW from 1894, the
Quick scheme was approved by all premiers in 1895. (Quick and Robert
Garran later published 'The Annotated Constitution of the Australian
Commonwealth' in 1901, which is widely regarded as one of the most
authoritative works on the Australian Constitution.) In March 1897
took place the Australasian Federal Convention Elections, and several
weeks later the delegates gathered for the Convention's first session
in Adelaide, later meeting in Sydney, and finally in Melbourne in
March 1898. After the Adelaide meeting, the colonial parliaments took
the opportunity to debate the emerging bill and to suggest changes.
The basic principles of the 1891 draft constitution were adopted,
modified by a consensus for more democracy in the constitutional
structure. It was agreed that the Senate should be chosen, directly,
by popular vote, rather than appointed by state governments.
On other matters there was considerable disagreement. State interests
inevitably fractured the unity of delegates in matters involving
rivers and railways, producing legalistic compromises. And they had
few guides, at a conceptual level, to what they were doing. Deakin
greatly praised James Bryce's appreciation of American federalism,
'The American Commonwealth'. And Barton cited the analysis of
federation of Bryce's Oxford colleagues, E.A. Freeman and A.V. Dicey.
But neither of these two writers could be said to be actual advocates
of Federation. For delegates less given to reading (or citing)
authors, the great model of plural governance would always be the
British Empire, which was not a federation.
The Australasian Federal Convention dissolved on 17 March 1898 having
adopted a bill "To Constitute the Commonwealth of Australia."
Federation referenda
======================================================================
Referendums on the proposed constitution were held in four of the
colonies in June 1898. There were majority votes in all four, however,
the enabling legislation in New South Wales required the support of at
least 80,000 voters for passage, equivalent to about half of enrolled
voters, and this number was not reached. A meeting of the colonial
premiers in early 1899 agreed to a number of amendments to make the
constitution more acceptable to New South Wales. These included the
limiting Braddon Clause, which guaranteed the states 75 percent of
customs revenue, to just ten years of operation; requiring that the
new federal capital would be located in New South Wales, but at least
a hundred miles (160 km) distant from Sydney; and, in the
circumstances of a double dissolution, reducing from six tenths to one
half the requisite majority to legislate of a subsequent joint meeting
of Senate and House. In June 1899, referendums on the revised
constitution were held again in all the colonies except for Western
Australia, where the vote was not held until the following year. The
majority vote was yes in all the colonies.
1898 referendums
==================
!rowspan=2|State !rowspan=2|Date !colspan=2|For !colspan=2|Against
!rowspan=2|Total !rowspan=2|Turnout
!Votes !% !Votes !%
|align=left|Tasmania align=center|3 June 1898 11,797 81.29 2,716
18.71 14,513 25.0
|align=left|New South Wales align=center|3 June 1898 71,595 51.95
66,228 48.05 137,823 43.5
align="left" |Victoria align="center" |3 June 1898 100,520 81.98
22,099 18.02 122,619 50.3
|align=left|South Australia align="center" |4 June 1898 35,800 67.39
17,320 20.54 53,120 30.9
colspan="8" align="left" |Source:
[https://www.aec.gov.au/about_aec/Publications/Fact_Sheets/factsheet1.htm
Federation Fact Sheet 1 - The Referendums 1898-1900, AEC] and
[https://www.aph.gov.au/about_parliament/parliamentary_departments/parliamentary_library/publications_Archive/online/milestones
Australia's Constitutional Milestones, APH]
1899 and 1900 referendums
===========================
!rowspan=2|State !rowspan=2|Date !colspan=2|For !colspan=2|Against
!rowspan=2|Total !rowspan=2|Turnout
!Votes !% !Votes !%
|align=left|South Australia align=center|29 April 1899 65,990 79.46
17,053 20.54 83,043 54.4
|align=left|New South Wales align=center|20 June 1899 107,420 56.49
82,741 43.51 190,161 63.4
|align=left|Tasmania align=center|27 July 1899 13,437 94.40 791 5.60
14,234 41.8
|align=left|Victoria align=center|27 July 1899 152,653 93.96 9,805
6.04 162,458 56.3
|align=left|Queensland align=center|2 September 1899 38,488 55.39
30,996 44.61 69,484 54.4
|align=left|Western Australia align=center|31 July 1900 44,800 69.47
19,691 30.53 64,491 67.1
colspan="8" align="left" |Source:
[https://www.aec.gov.au/about_aec/Publications/Fact_Sheets/factsheet1.htm
Federation Fact Sheet 1 - The Referendums 1898-1900, AEC] and
[https://www.aph.gov.au/about_parliament/parliamentary_departments/parliamentary_library/publications_Archive/online/milestones
Australia's Constitutional Milestones, APH]
The bill as accepted by the colonies (except Western Australia, which
voted after the act was passed by the British parliament) was sent to
Britain to be enacted as an act passed by British Parliament.
Federal Constitution
======================================================================
The 'Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900' (Imp) was passed
on 5 July 1900 and given royal assent by Queen Victoria on 9 July
1900. It was proclaimed on 1 January 1901 in Centennial Park, Sydney.
Sir Edmund Barton was sworn in as the interim Prime Minister, leading
an interim Federal ministry of nine members.
The new constitution established a bicameral Parliament, containing a
Senate and a House of Representatives. The office of governor-general
was established as the Queen's representative; initially, as a
representative of the British Government.
The Constitution also provided for the establishment of a High Court,
and divided the powers of government between the states and the new
Commonwealth government. The states retained their own parliaments,
along with the majority of existing powers, but the federal government
would be responsible of issues defence, immigration, quarantine,
customs, banking and coinage, among other powers.
The economic consequences of federation
======================================================================
Australian federation entailed the creation of both a customs and a
fiscal union. With respect to the customs union, tariffs were
abolished on interstate trade (although this process occurred on a
phased basis in Western Australia), while all of the colonies adopted
the Commonwealth's common external tariff schedule in October 1901.
The first federal (Commonwealth) was widely regarded as protectionist;
indeed, with respect to imports from outside of Australia, the average
tariff increased relative to the average of the individual colonies'
average tariffs prior to federation, according to estimates produced
by Melbourne economist Peter Lloyd. Nevertheless, the
welfare-enhancing effect of the elimination of tariffs on interstate
trade dominated the welfare-reducing effect of higher tariffs on
overseas imports, such that the net static welfare gain from
Australian federation was actually positive and estimated to have been
0.17% of GDP. With respect to the fiscal union, there was a
harmonisation of excise duties at approximately the mid-level of the
colonial excise duties.
Landmarks named after Federation
======================================================================
One of the many arches made to celebrate Federation, the Citizens Arch
- National Museum, Canberra
The significance of Federation for Australia is such that a number of
landmarks, natural and man-made, have been named after it. These
include:
* Federal Highway, between Goulburn, New South Wales and Canberra
* Federation Creek, near Croydon, Queensland
* Federation Peak, Tasmania
* Federation Range, on the Royston River, about 90 km east-northeast
of Melbourne, Victoria
* Federation Square, Melbourne, Victoria
* Federation Trail, Melbourne, Victoria
* Federation University, Ballarat, Victoria
See also
======================================================================
* Government of Australia
* Federalism in Australia
* Australian Capital Territory
* Secessionism in Western Australia
* History of monarchy in Australia
* Australian nationality law
* Australian Bicentenary
* Federation Drought
Bibliography
==============
* La Nauze, J, 'The Making of the Australian Constitution' (Carlton:
Melbourne University Press, 1972).
* McGrath, F, 'The Framers of the Australian Constitution'
(Brighton-le-Sands: Frank McGrath, 2003).
* Neasey, F. M.; Neasey, L. J. 'Andrew Inglis Clark.' (University of
Tasmania Law Press, 2001)
Further reading
======================================================================
*
*
*
*
*Forster, C.,
"[https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/aehr.172001
Federation and the Tariff]," 'Australian Economic History Review', 17
(1977), pp. 95-116.
* Hunt, Lyall (editor) (2000)'Towards Federation: Why Western
Australia joined the Australian Federation in 1901' Nedlands, W.A.
Royal Western Australian Historical Society
* Lloyd, Peter,
"[https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1475-4932.12167 Customs
Union and Fiscal Union in Australia at Federation]," 'Economic
Record', 91 (2015), pp. 155-71.
* Lloyd, Peter,
"[https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/aehr.12066 Excise Tax
Harmonisation in Australia at Federation]," 'Australian Economic
History Review', 57 (2017), pp. 45-64.
*McQueen, Humphrey, (1970/2004), 'A New Britannia', University of
Queensland Press, Brisbane.
*
*Quick, John, 'Historical Introduction to The Annotated Constitution
of the Australian Commonwealth' (Sydney: University of Sydney Library,
2000)
*Deakin, Alfred, 1880-1900 (Legislative Assembly politician)
[http://setis.library.usyd.edu.au/ozlit/pdf/fed0002.pdf The Federal
Story], The Inner History of the Federal Cause, Deakin 175 page
eyewitness report. Edited by J. A. La Nauze published by Melbourne
University Press.
*Varian, Brian D. and Grayson, Luke H.,
"[https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1475-4932.12790
Economic Aspects of Australian Federation: Trade Restrictiveness and
Welfare Effects in the Colonies and the Commonwealth]," 'Economic
Record', 100 (2024), pp. 74-100.
*
External links
======================================================================
*
[https://web.archive.org/web/20090830044526/http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/explore/federation/index.aspx
Federation and the Constitution] - resource of the National Archives
of Australia
*
[http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Senate/Powers_practice_n_procedures/Records_of_the_Australasian_Federal_Conventions_of_the_1890s
Records of the Australasian Federal Conventions of the 1890s]
* [https://digital.library.sydney.edu.au/nodes/view/7525 Australian
Federation Full Text Database] - primary source material
v
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