Federation – 1 January 1901 – From Parkes at Tenterfield to the Centennial Park Ceremony and the First Parliament

On New Year's Day 1901, the first day of the twentieth century, six British colonies became one nation, the Commonwealth of Australia. Sydney threw the party. A procession of about 10,000 people wound from the Domain through the city, under ten great arches, out to Centennial Park. There, in a plaster pavilion, Lord Hopetoun was sworn in as Governor-General and Edmund Barton as the first Prime Minister. It had taken more than a decade of speeches, conventions and referendums to get there, a near-disaster over who should be Prime Minister, and an Act of the British Parliament. Four months later the first federal Parliament opened in Melbourne. Among the first laws it passed was the one that made White Australia official. The new Constitution also said Aboriginal people weren't to be counted.

The inauguration procession in Macquarie Street, Sydney, on 1 January 1901. W. A. Gullick, Government Printer, State Library of New South Wales, no known copyright restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons

This is the story of how it happened, with a Sydney eye on the big day itself. I've tried to tell the whole of it, the proud bits and the ugly bits, because both are true.

Six Colonies, Six Ways of Doing Things

By the late 1800s Australia was six self-governing British colonies. The National Museum of Australia points out that each had its own laws, its own railway gauge, its own postage stamps and its own tariffs. You paid duty to move goods across the Murray. Defence, immigration and trade were growing worries, and so was a sense of being Australian. Wikipedia notes that by the late 1880s most colonists had been born here, and that the 1872 telegraph between the colonies helped draw them together.

There had been talk of union for decades. Wikipedia traces calls for it back to 1842. The Federal Council of Australasia was set up in 1885 to deal with matters between the colonies, but New South Wales never joined. The NMA says the council dissolved in 1889, and Wikipedia says it never had its own money or a proper executive. The Australian Natives' Association, made up of white men born in Australia, signed up to the cause in 1880 according to the NMA, and became the backbone of the federation leagues.

Not everyone was keen. The smaller colonies feared being run by Sydney and Melbourne. Free-trade New South Wales was suspicious of protectionist Victoria. Queensland worried that national race laws would cut off the Pacific Island labour its cane fields relied on. And the young labour movement thought the whole scheme too conservative, especially the strong Senate.

Parkes at Tenterfield, 1889

Sir Henry Parkes, painted by Tom Roberts in 1893. Tom Roberts, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Sir Henry Parkes was the Premier of New South Wales and the grand old man of colonial politics. Wikipedia tells how the Governor, Lord Carrington, goaded him over lunch on 15 June 1889. Parkes boasted that he "could confederate these colonies in twelve months", and Carrington shot back: "Then why don't you do it? It would be a glorious finish to your life."

Parkes went north to Brisbane. On the way home, on 24 October 1889, he stopped at Tenterfield, just south of the Queensland border, and spoke at the School of Arts. His main argument was defence: "one great federal army". He also wanted a convention of leading men from all the colonies to write a constitution for a federal government and a federal parliament. His closing words are the ones that get quoted:

"The opportunity has arisen for the consideration of this great subject and I believe that the time is at hand… when this thing will be done. Indeed, this great thing will have to be done, and to put it off will only tend to make the difficulties which stand in the way, greater."

The Tenterfield School of Arts, where Parkes gave his speech on 24 October 1889. Mattinbgn, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The plaque at Tenterfield marking the Oration. Mattinbgn, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The speech went into newspapers right across the colonies. Parkes earned the name "Father of Federation", though he never saw it through. The NMA notes that he died in 1896.

The Conventions

Melbourne 1890 and Sydney 1891

An informal conference met in Melbourne in February 1890, in a heatwave Wikipedia puts at 39.7°C in the shade. It agreed the time had come to talk properly. The National Australasian Convention followed in Sydney in 1891 with Parkes as president. The NMA says the delegates, New Zealand's among them, settled on the name "Commonwealth of Australia".

The delegates to the National Australasian Convention in Sydney, 1891. State Government Photographer, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

The draft constitution came out of that convention. Who deserves the credit is still argued over. Over Easter 1891, Queensland's Sir Samuel Griffith reworked a draft by Tasmania's Andrew Inglis Clark aboard the Queensland Government steam yacht Lucinda. Clark was laid up with influenza in Sydney. The old view gave Griffith nearly all the credit, while newer writers lift Clark up. The NMA puts it simply: Griffith is credited with writing it, but it was based on Clark's version. It was a mix of the American model and the British one, which the NMA says got the nickname "Washminster".

Andrew Inglis Clark of Tasmania, whose draft constitution of 1890–91 laid the groundwork. Vandyck Photographers, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Then it all stalled. The draft lapsed in the New South Wales Parliament. The 1890s depression hit, bringing unemployment and strikes, and the new Labor Party wrote federation off as a "fad", in Wikipedia's account.

Corowa and the people's turn

The cause came back from the bush. At a Federation League conference at Corowa in 1893, John Quick proposed that the people should elect the convention themselves and then vote on its constitution at referendums. George Reid, Premier of New South Wales from 1894, got behind the idea, and the premiers agreed to it in 1895.

Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne, 1897–98

The cover of the album made for the 1898 Australasian Federal Convention. Unknown, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The elected convention met in Adelaide in 1897, then in Sydney, and finished in Melbourne. It wound up on 17 March 1898 with a bill "To Constitute the Commonwealth of Australia". The 1891 draft was kept, with more democracy added, including a Senate elected directly by the people. After Parkes died, Edmund Barton of Sydney became, in the NMA's words, the de facto leader of the federal campaign.

Charles Kingston of South Australia, president of the 1897–98 convention. 1898 Australasian Federal Convention Album, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

George Reid, Premier of New South Wales from 1894, from the 1898 convention album. 1898 Australasian Federal Convention Album, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Referendums

1898: yes, but not enough

In June 1898 New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania voted on the bill. All four said yes. New South Wales, though, had set a hurdle of at least 80,000 Yes votes, and didn't reach it.

1899: the deal and the second vote

The premiers met early in 1899 and changed the bill to win over New South Wales. The Braddon clause, which gave the states three-quarters of customs revenue, was limited to ten years. The federal capital would be in New South Wales but at least a hundred miles from Sydney. And the rules for breaking a deadlock between the houses were eased. The NMA says that this time New South Wales needed only a simple majority. In the 1899 votes, Yes won in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and Queensland.

A ribbon from Turner & Henderson of Hunter Street, Sydney, urging a Yes vote in 1899. Turner & Henderson, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

A Sydney handbill for Referendum Day, Tuesday 20 June 1899, which slyly advertises the races at Rosebery Park as well. State Library of New South Wales, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Crowds watching the 1899 referendum results go up at the Hotel Australia in Sydney. Unknown, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Brisbane waits for its 1899 referendum results at the Courier building, Queen and Edward Streets. Poulsen, State Library of Queensland, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Referendum night outside the Exchange Hotel, Charters Towers, as catalogued by the State Library of Queensland. Marion Photos, State Library of Queensland, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

1900: Western Australia comes in late

Western Australia held out. The NMA says it didn't vote until 31 July 1900, weeks after the Queen had signed the Act. Part of the sweetener was a promise of a railway to the eastern states.

The Act in London, 1900

The colonies were still British, so only the British Parliament could create the new nation. The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act was passed on 5 July 1900, and Queen Victoria gave it royal assent on 9 July. It was to take effect on 1 January 1901.

The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900, passed in London. Superegz, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

It set up a Parliament of two houses, a Senate and a House of Representatives, plus a Governor-General as the Crown's representative and a High Court. The new Commonwealth got defence, immigration, quarantine, customs, banking and coinage, and the states kept most of the rest. The NMA adds that Parliament would sit in Melbourne until a new capital was built.

The Hopetoun Blunder

Lord Hopetoun, Australia's first Governor-General. Johnstone, O'Shannessy & Co., State Library Victoria, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Queen appointed John Hope, the 7th Earl of Hopetoun, a former Governor of Victoria, as the first Governor-General on 14 July 1900. He reached Australia on 15 December 1900, sick from his trip through India. Wikipedia says it was typhus. He had less than three weeks to find a Prime Minister to run things until the first election.

On 19 December he followed the Canadian precedent and sent for the Premier of the biggest colony, Sir William Lyne of New South Wales. It was a disaster. Lyne had opposed federation until the last minute, and the federalists wouldn't serve under him. Barton wrote to Lyne that it "would be a contradiction of my whole career in relation to federation" to serve under a prime minister who had fought the bill. The Bulletin called Lyne "almost the dullest and most ordinary" of the front-rank politicians.

Sir William Lyne, the New South Wales Premier Hopetoun asked first. Unknown photographer, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Lyne handed back his commission at 10pm on Christmas Eve 1900. An hour later Hopetoun sent for Barton, who already had his team lined up with Alfred Deakin. Lyne swallowed his pride and joined as Minister for Home Affairs. The episode went down in history as the Hopetoun Blunder.

Edmund Barton around 1889, a Sydney barrister who carried the federal cause after Parkes. Unknown photographer, State Library of New South Wales, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Barton's ministry was a cabinet of old premiers. George Turner of Victoria was Treasurer, Charles Kingston of South Australia ran Trade and Customs, John Forrest of Western Australia was Postmaster-General, James Dickson of Queensland had Defence, and Lyne had Home Affairs.

The first Federal Executive Council, including Barton's ministry, photographed in early January 1901. Crown Studios, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

1 January 1901: Sydney's Big Day

Dressing up the city

Sydney went all out. Buildings, telegraph poles and streets were hung with flags, banners, bunting and triumphal arches. There were ten arches along the procession route according to the Wikipedia article on the film of the day, and several of them celebrated Australian industries like wool. The photographs show a Wheat Arch in Bridge Street and an American arch, among others.

Federation decorations in Bridge Street, Sydney, 1 January 1901. NSW State Archives, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Wheat Arch, looking east up Bridge Street from the corner of Gresham Street. A. J. Perier, State Library of New South Wales, no known copyright restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons

The United States of America Federation Arch in Sydney. NSW State Archives, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

A Federation arch across a Sydney street, from the Powerhouse Museum's Phillips glass plate collection. Powerhouse Museum, no known restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons

Federation decorations at Martin Place. NSW State Archives, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Decorations on the corner of Martin Place and Pitt Street. NSW State Archives, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Young Street, looking towards Bent and Bligh Streets, dressed up for Federation. NSW State Archives, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The procession

The procession formed up in the Domain and wound through the city before heading south-east to Centennial Park. It was led by 200 mounted police, followed by railway bandsmen, shearers and bush workers, decorated floats, Australian and Imperial troops, and the carriages of Hopetoun, Barton, the premiers and other dignitaries. Wikipedia puts the marchers at about 10,000 and the crowds along the route at between 250,000 and 500,000. People leaned out of windows and climbed onto roofs and awnings for a look.

The Salvation Army's Limelight Department filmed the lot for the New South Wales Government. Director Joseph Perry rode between camera platforms on a horse-drawn fire engine, running three crews at once. Inauguration of the Commonwealth premiered at Her Majesty's Theatre on 19 January 1901. At 35 minutes long, Wikipedia says it was Australia's first feature-length documentary.

The ceremony in Centennial Park

The Federation Pavilion in Centennial Park during the swearing-in, 1 January 1901. National Library of Australia, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

At Centennial Park stood the Federation Pavilion, a temporary building about 14 metres high, dressed in fancy fibrous plaster. It sat on a six-sided slab of polished Moruya granite, one side for each state. In 1904 that slab, the Commonwealth Stone, was set into the ground to mark the spot where the Commonwealth was born.

Another view of the pavilion and the crowd. National Library of Australia, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

In the pavilion, the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, William Smith, greeted the official party. The Proclamation was read, and the Lieutenant-Governor and Chief Justice of New South Wales, Sir Frederick Darley, administered the oaths to Hopetoun, Barton and the first federal ministry. They signed at a table in the middle of the pavilion. Estimates of the crowd vary wildly: the Federation Pavilion article says 60,000, while the Barton government article says about 250,000.

The pavilion during the ceremony. Talma Studio, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The pavilion in Centennial Park on the day. NSW State Archives, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The pavilion where Sir Frederick Darley swore in Lord Hopetoun. Unattributed, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The first Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, 1 January 1901. Australian Government, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The party goes on

The celebrations ran for days. A Russian warship joined the ships in the Harbour, there was a balloon at the Showground, and the troops paraded in Centennial Park the next day. Out in the bush, people had their own picnics.

The Russian cruiser Gromoboi in Sydney Harbour for the celebrations. Albert J. Perier, State Library of New South Wales, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

A hot-air balloon at the Commonwealth Celebrations at the Showground, Moore Park, 1901. W. H. Macguire, State Library of New South Wales, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Out the back of beyond: a Federation Day picnic at Bunker Creek near White Cliffs, 1 January 1901. Unknown photographer, State Library of New South Wales, no known copyright restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons

What happened to the pavilion

The plaster didn't last. By 1902 the pavilion was reported to be very dilapidated, and the Municipality of Concord bought the timber frame for £60 and moved it to Cabarita Park in 1903. It's on the State Heritage Register, and since 2016 it's been on the clear window of the five-dollar note.

The old pavilion frame at Cabarita Park, where Concord council moved it. J Bar, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The First Election and the First Parliament

The first federal election was held on Friday 29 March 1901 in four states and Saturday 30 March in South Australia and Queensland. Queensland floods held up some polling until April. All 75 House seats and 36 Senate seats were up. Barton's Protectionists won the most seats but not a majority, so they governed with the support of Labour. George Reid's Free Traders were the opposition. Six future prime ministers entered Parliament at that election.

On 9 May 1901 the King's son, the Duke of Cornwall and York, later George V, opened the first Parliament in the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne. Tom Roberts painted the scene. It's the famous "Big Picture", which measures about 3 by 5 metres. After the opening, Parliament moved to Victoria's Parliament House, and the Victorian Parliament moved into the Exhibition Building for the next 26 years.

Tom Roberts' "Big Picture" of the opening of the first Parliament, 9 May 1901. Tom Roberts, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Charles Nuttall's painting of the same opening at the Exhibition Building. Charles Nuttall, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne today. Rexness, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

An invitation to the Australian Commonwealth Celebrations in Victoria, 1901. Watson Family, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

What It Meant

One market, one nation, still British

The customs houses on the borders went. Wikipedia says tariffs between the states were abolished, with Western Australia phased in, and a common outside tariff came in in October 1901. The NMA makes the point that Australia was now largely self-governing, but the monarch stayed head of state and Australians remained British subjects until the Nationality and Citizenship Act of 1948. As the NMA sees it, the driving urge was union more than independence.

White Australia

Federation and White Australia went hand in hand. The NMA says one of the first things the new Parliament did was enshrine the White Australia policy in law. The Immigration Restriction Act 1901, drafted by Deakin, brought in a 50-word dictation test that could be given in any European language the officer chose. Wikipedia explains it was never a real test. The decision to keep someone out was made first, and the language was picked so they'd fail. Even at the time a West Australian senator called it "a piece of gross chicanery". The same Parliament passed the Pacific Island Labourers Act 1901. Wikipedia says about 7,500 Pacific Islanders, mostly working on Queensland plantations, were deported as a result. The dictation test lasted until the Migration Act of 1958.

The Immigration Restriction Act 1901, the start of the White Australia policy in federal law. Parliament of Australia, digitised by the Museum of Australian Democracy, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

An anti-Chinese cartoon from 1888, held by the National Library. Feelings like this fed straight into federal law. National Library of Australia, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Aboriginal people

For the first Australians, Federation brought nothing good. Section 127 of the Constitution said: "In reckoning the numbers of the people of the Commonwealth, or of a State or other part of the Commonwealth, aboriginal natives shall not be counted." The NMA notes the Commonwealth had no power to make special laws for Aboriginal people either. Both things stayed that way until the 1967 referendum, and section 127 was repealed with effect from 10 August 1967.

Then came the vote. The Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902 gave the federal vote to women, which was a big step forward. But it also shut out "natives" of Australia, Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands, other than New Zealand, unless they were already on a state roll. So a new nation was proclaimed in a park in Sydney, while the people who'd been here all along weren't even counted.

Timeline

• 1880: The Australian Natives' Association commits to Federation.
• 1885: The Federal Council of Australasia is formed, without New South Wales.
• 15 June 1889: Lord Carrington goads Parkes at lunch.
• 24 October 1889: Parkes gives the Tenterfield Oration.
• February 1890: The Australasian Federal Conference meets in Melbourne.
• 1891: The National Australasian Convention meets in Sydney and the draft constitution is written.
• 1893: The Corowa conference puts forward Quick's plan.
• 1895: The premiers adopt the plan.
• 1896: Parkes dies.
• 1897–98: The Federal Convention meets in Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne and closes on 17 March 1898.
• June 1898: The first referendums are held. New South Wales falls short of its 80,000 mark.
• Early 1899: The premiers meet and amend the bill.
• 1899: The second referendums are held, with Yes winning in five colonies.
• 5 July 1900: The Constitution Act passes the British Parliament.
• 9 July 1900: It receives royal assent.
• 31 July 1900: Western Australia votes.
• 15 December 1900: Hopetoun arrives.
• 19 December 1900: He commissions Lyne.
• 24 December 1900: Lyne gives up at 10pm, and Barton is commissioned at 11pm.
• 1 January 1901: The procession and the proclamation at Centennial Park.
• 19 January 1901: The film premieres at Her Majesty's Theatre.
• 29–30 March 1901: The first federal election.
• 9 May 1901: The first Parliament opens at the Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne.
• Late 1901: The Immigration Restriction Act and the Pacific Island Labourers Act are passed.
• 1902: The Commonwealth Franchise Act is passed.
• 1903: The pavilion frame is moved to Cabarita.
• 24 September 1903: Barton resigns to join the High Court.
• 1904: The Commonwealth Stone is set into the ground in Centennial Park.
• 1958: The dictation test is abolished.
• 1967: The referendum leads to the repeal of section 127.

Where the Sources Disagree

• The crowd at Centennial Park. The Federation Pavilion article says 60,000. The Barton government article says about 250,000. The film article puts 250,000 to 500,000 along the procession route.
• When the ministry was sworn in. The National Museum of Australia says Hopetoun swore in the first federal ministry on 31 December 1900 and proclaimed the Commonwealth the next day. The Wikipedia articles on the pavilion and the Barton government put the swearing-in in the pavilion on 1 January 1901.
• How big Barton's first cabinet was. The Hopetoun Blunder article says Barton had organised a seven-person interim cabinet. The Federation article says nine members. The Commons description of the official photograph names all nine members of the Barton ministry.
• Who designed the pavilion. The same Wikipedia article says "it is not known" who designed it, and in another place says it was designed by Government Architect Walter Liberty Vernon.
• Who wrote the 1891 draft. Traditionally Griffith got the credit. Newer writers give Andrew Inglis Clark the larger share.
• When the 1899 votes were held. Wikipedia says June 1899 in every colony except Western Australia. The State Library of Queensland dates its photo of the Brisbane referendum crowd to September 1899. Its Charters Towers photo is catalogued as 1900.

My Earlier Posts

• Federation Day – January 1st 1901 – Centennial Park – NSW
• Centennial Park And Queens Park – Sydney
• Centennial Park – Photos
• Sydney and Bubonic Plague in 1901 – Rats
• National Day Of The Australian Flag – September 3rd
• National Wattle Day – September 1st

Sources

1. National Museum of Australia, Defining Moments: "Federation": nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/federation
2. Wikipedia, "Federation of Australia": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federation_of_Australia
3. Wikipedia, "Tenterfield Oration": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenterfield_Oration
4. Wikipedia, "Hopetoun Blunder": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hopetoun_Blunder
5. Wikipedia, "Barton government": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barton_government
6. Wikipedia, "Federation Pavilion": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federation_Pavilion
7. Wikipedia, "Inauguration of the Commonwealth" (1901 film): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inauguration_of_the_Commonwealth
8. Wikipedia, "1901 Australian federal election": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1901_Australian_federal_election
9. Wikipedia, "Royal Exhibition Building": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Exhibition_Building
10. Wikipedia, "The Big Picture (painting)": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Picture_(painting)
11. Wikipedia, "Immigration Restriction Act 1901": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_Restriction_Act_1901
12. Wikipedia, "White Australia policy": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Australia_policy
13. Wikipedia, "Section 127 of the Constitution of Australia": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_127_of_the_Constitution_of_Australia
14. Wikipedia, "Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_Franchise_Act_1902
15. Pictures: Wikimedia Commons, from the State Library of New South Wales, NSW State Archives, National Library of Australia, State Library of Queensland, State Library Victoria, Powerhouse Museum, Museum of Australian Democracy and individual photographers, as credited under each picture.