Nationhood

1. During the 1880’s and 1890’s Australians because conscious of their nationhood.
2. An Australian identity emerged in the later part of the 19th century as the number of Australian born people
rose.
3. Uniquely Australian qualities emphasised by nationalist writers of this period include group spirit, defiance of
authority, resourcefulness, independence, gambling, drinking, swearing, and carelessness.
4. These qualities may be traced back to convict and emancipist ancestry.
5. Some traits that may be traced back to the colonies’ essentially penal origins include group spirit, defiance of
authority, resourcefulness, independence, gambling, drinking, swearing, and carelessness.
6. Pioneering conditions strengthened these characteristics.
7. To the Australian identity, Bushmen contributed group spirit and liberality to one another.
8. The bushrangers were criminals who robbed the wealthy such as travellers, stage coaches and gold conveys.
They were symbols of resistance to England and thought to be patriotic.
9. The best known bushranger is perhaps Ned Kelly.
10. The elements the bushrangers contributed to the Australian identity include opposing or defying
authorisation as well as a concern for those who are worse off.
11. Australian writers of the late 19th century- Henry Lawson, A.B. (Banjo) Paterson and Joseph Furphy-
romanticised the lives of the Bushmen.
12. Henry Lawson and A.B. (Banjo) Paterson mainly wrote about the language the Bushmen used- so full of cant
expressions it was almost another dialect- and their willingness to defend their rights as workers against
squatters and the pastoral companies who employed them. The Bushmen disliked employers, the wealthy,
the government and the British.
13. The Sydney Bulletin popularised the writing of Lawson and Paterson.
14. The editorial staff of the bulletin believed in a republican government with no ties to England, unitedness,
the abolition of ‘nobility’ titles and a white Australian population.
15. Roberts, Streeton and Condor used Australian themes and rich colours in landscape paintings to reflect
Australian nationalism in their artwork.
16. The Australian Natives Association aimed for Australians to think and act as one. They gave voice to the
Australian character.
17. The larrikin was the urban version of the bushman. They were poor city workers who were unskilled and
often engaged in unlawful activity.

The Early Federation Movement

18. Federation was not easily achieved in Australia.
19. The colonies’ beliefs that Victoria or New South Wales would dominate the new federation stood in the way
of nation unity.
20. The international conferences, held to discuss matters of common concern such as tariffs, immigrations,
communications and defence, improved cooperation at a national level.
21. Differing circumstances such as New South Wales having been settled by convicts, South Australia by free
settlers, Victoria protectionist and New South Wales free trade, some colonies prosperous and others not
and many having only recently gained freedom caused national disunity.
22. The colonists lacked enthusiasm for national unification because they were more concerned about local
problems, politics and development. There were also very few leaders who showed sufficient drive to
convince colonies of the need for unity.

The Federation Movement in the 1880s

23. The territorial ambitions of France and Germany in the South Pacific helped unify Australia’s six colonies
because many believed that had they shown a united front this problem would not have arisen.
24. An early attempt on getting federal unity on issues of mutual concern at a national level was the federal
council, made up of the six Australian colonies, Fiji and New Zealand.
25. The Leader of the movement for a federal council was New South Wales Premier, Henry Parkes.
26. This movement did not meed with universal agreement.
27. New South Wales refused to join and this would have been a blow to efforts for greater national unity as
New South Wales was the largest colony.
28. Other problems the federal council faced were its limited legislative power and its inefficiency because it had
no sources of revenue through taxation.
 Moves to Create a Federal Constitution in the 1890s
29. The poor defence of Australian colonies is what really brought them together.
30. Sir Henry Parkes urged for a central parliament so laws could be made for all of Australia.
31. In 1891 a constitutional convention was convened to devise a constitution to develop a Federal government.

The Convention of 1891

32. It was decided at the convention that federation would be the best system for Australia.
33. The essential elements of the proposed constitutions were the two houses.
An upper house –senate- to have equal numbers of senators from each state
And a lower house- house of representatives- to have members elected according to the population of each
state.
34. The constitutional debate did not interest many in the colonies beyond the political elites.
35. Defence, immigration, trade and transport and communication are issues that still required a national
response.
36. Business people favoured closer national ties because they saw that this would help inter-state trade and
lead to greater national prosperity.
37. To canvass for federation, they enlisted the help of Alfred Deakin and The Australian Natives Association.
38. The Australian Natives Association helped to plan an educational campaign to persuade Australians to
support federation.
39. To keep the issue of federation the political agenda and lobby politicians, colonies formed federal leagues.
40. In 1897-98 a series of federal conventions were called.

The Convention of 1897-1898

41. A new constitution was drafted, similar to the one of 1891. It was decided that instead of the state
parliaments, the people would elect the senators, however The House of Representatives was to retain the
right to reduce money bill. Three quarters of all customs and excise duties were to be returned to the States.
Transcontinental railways were planned to be built to the more isolated states such as Western Australia and
the Northern Territory.

The Achievement of Federation

42. The draft constitution was put to a referendum in 1898 in Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and New South
Wales.
43. The placard encouraged people to vote federation to make the continent a nation and to make Australia
great.
44. The referendum was successful in Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. It was unsuccessful in New South
Wales and no vote was taken in Queensland and Western Australia.
45. Later changes were made and agreed upon. The House could submit referenda to the people and deadlocks
between Houses were to be resolved by a simple majority at joint sittings. The Federal capital was to be
located in New South Wales but more than 100 miles from Sydney.
46. The referendum of 1899 was successful, however Western Australia did not vote.
47. The Commonwealth of Australia came into being on the 1st of January 1901.