federation Flashcards
The date when Australia federated
1st January 1901
The reasons FOR federation. For example, the issue of migration, national defence and the issue of taxes and tariffs.
The reasons for trade was because of the issues with trade, immigration and defence. It would also be helpful for economic concerns and also the recognition and all the colonies had the same goals and were the ‘same’.
The reasons AGAINST federation. For example, the smaller states feared dominance by the
bigger states, States not wanting to lose their own “identity”, the cost involved.
Was expensive and the colonies had different policies about immigration, trade and other matters. They all had different rules and they had mixed opinions about each other. Sydney and Victoria were the strongest colonies and they wanted to stay that way.
How were obstacles against Federation finally overcome.
The pushback from the leaders not wanting it, rivalry between the colonies, some had a strong sense of identity and they didn’t want that to be gone
What did Federation look like? The structure of government and the role of the Constitution
The constitution splits the power to govern the country between three different areas of responsibility. It is a document that sets the rules, says that there is power sharing. Having a federal parliament with two parliaments upper and lower house.
Did Federation benefit all Australians? Did any groups within society miss out or continued to be disadvantaged even after Federation.
Some were still loyal to Britain so they weren’t excited about federation. Colonial leaders were against it, they were scared they wouldn’t have something to rule over.
Constitution
Was a document written to hold the laws/rules.
Defence
In the 1880’s some European countries were expanding their territories by setting up colonies in Africa and Asia e.t.c. Australia feared that they would overpower them so they decided that it would be good to defend themselves. Because we had a federation, Australia built an army. They combined all defences from each colony and became the Australian defence force.
