The first National Australasian Convention was held in Sydney in March and April 1891, and was attended by delegates from each of the colonies and the New Zealand Parliament. During the convention, Edmund Barton, who was to become Australia's first Prime Minister, made famous the catchcry 'a nation for a continent and a continent for a nation'.

The convention spent five weeks discussing and then composing a draft constitution, which became the basis for the constitution we have today. While Queensland Premier, Sir Samuel Griffith, is largely credited with drafting the constitution approved by the convention, it was based on a version circulated by Tasmanian delegate Andrew Inglis Clark. Clark was inspired by the federal model adopted by the United States (US), which, like Australia, faced the challenge of bringing together self-governing colonies as a nation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

'Don't be in such a hurry gentlemen!', 1896. In this caricature, the Australian Natives Association is depicted as the sun and federation as a sunray. The colonial premiers (with the exception of Western Australian Premier, John Forrest) are shown rushing toward federation, lured by the promise of prizes in the 'federation lottery'

National Library of Australia, an7900896

 

Under the draft constitution the colonies would unite as separate states within the Commonwealth, with power shared between a federal Parliament and state parliaments. This would give Australia a federal system of government. The federal Parliament would have responsibility for areas which affected the whole nation, such as trade, defence, immigration, postal and telegraphic services, marriage and divorce. A High Court would interpret the constitution and resolve disputes between the federal and state governments.

 

Federal Parliament would comprise the Queen (represented by the Governor-General), the Senate and the House of Representatives. The two houseswould have similar law-making powers – laws could only be passed or changed withthe approval of both houses.

The power to make and manage federal law was to be divided between the Parliament (wh

o would make the law), the Executive (who would implement the law) and the Judiciary (who would interpret the law).

 

The House of Representatives was to be elected based on population (with members representing electorates made up of approximately the same amount of people) while the Senate would provide all states with equal representation. States with larger populations would have more electorates and greater representation in the House; the composition of the Senate was designed to ensure that these states did not dominate the Parliament.

 

The phrase 'Washminster' has been used to describe our system of government, as it blends features of the British Parliament and US federal model.

 

The delegates took the draft constitution back to their colonial parliaments for consideration and approval. Faced with an escalating economic depression, the parliaments lost enthusiasm for federation. Meanwhile, its greatest champion, Parkes, retired from politics and the succeeding New South Wales governments did not share his passion for federal union.

 

While the colonial parliaments put the issue of federation to one side, it had fired the public's imagination. Groups such as the Australian Federation League in New South Wales and the Australian Natives Association in Victoria continued to push for federation.

In 1893 a people's conference was held in Corowa, New South Wales, which agreed 'the best interests, present and future prosperity of the Australian colonies will be promoted by their early federation'. The Corowa Conference agreed to a proposal from Victorian delegate John Quick, that:

 

• the colonial parliaments pass an act to allow the direct election of delegates to a new federation convention which would decide on a draft constitution

 

• a referendum be held asking the people to ratify (approve) the draft constitution.

 

A special Premier's Conference was held in Hobart in 1895 at which most of the colonies agreed to Quick's proposal. Queensland, fearing federation might mean the loss of its Pacific Islander labour force, decided not to take part. By this stage, New Zealand had also opted out of the federation process.

The following year the Bathurst Federation League, frustrated by the inaction of the colonial parliaments, held a second people's conference at which over 150 delegates renewed calls for a new federation convention. Finally, in March 1896 elections for convention delegates were held in New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia.

 

1897–98 Federation Convention

The second National Australasian Convention met three times during 1897 and 1898 in Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne, and used the 1891 draft constitution as a starting point for deliberations. The convention comprised elected and appointed representatives from all the colonies except Queensland.

One of the most significant changes made to the draft constitution related to the Senate. Senators would be directly elected by the people of each state voting as one electorate, rather than, as originally proposed, being selected by the state parliaments. The new draft also established the size of the two houses, so that the House of Representatives would be roughly twice the size of the Senate; in other words, there would be two members of the House for every senator.

 

Given that the Senate and the House of Representatives would have almost identical law-making powers, the delegates realised a provision was needed to break deadlocks between the two houses. Under this provision, disagreements could be resolved by dissolving both houses of Parliament and calling an election. The newly-elected Parliament could then vote on the issue. If this failed to break the deadlock, it could be put to a vote in a joint sitting of both houses.

 

The convention also agreed to a clause proposed by the Tasmanian Premier, Sir Edward Braddon, to return to the states three-quarters of the revenue collected by the federal government through customs and excise. 'Braddon's Blot', as it was dubbed by its critics, was designed to appease the economically-smaller states which were worried they would be worse-off under federation.

On 16 March 1898 the convention agreed to the constitution in the form of a Draft Bill to Constitute the Commonwealth of Australia. After being endorsed by the colonial parliaments, the electors in each of the six colonies were then asked to approve the constitution in a referendum.

 

 

 

Sourced: http://www.peo.gov.au/learning/closer-look/federation-cl/federation-conventions.html