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Captain James Cook
Captain James Cook mapped NSW and claimed Australia for Britain -
The First Fleet
11 ships called 'The First Fleet' arrived and made a prison colony in Sydney. -
Six British Colonies
There where six colonies made in Australia by the British Parliament. The colonies where very seperate, not having much to do with each other. There names was NSW, VIC, QLD, TAS, WA, SA. -
The Telegraph
The telegraph linked the colonies, increasing there communication. The idea of being 'Australian' instead of British started coming up in songs and poems. In the 1890's people started talking about joining together as one nation. -
Australian Federation
The Premiere of NSW, Henry Parks convinced the other Premiers to discuss Federation and the Australasian Federation Convention, with representatives from NZ, was held in Melbourne. -
The Australian Constitution
The National Australian Convention was held in Sydney. Each colony had 7 representatives and from these, they chose a committee to begin writing the Australian Constitution, which is a set of basic rules and principles of how a club or nation is governed. -
An Important Conference
There was a conference of pro-federation groups. The conference agreed that all Australians should have a chance to agree with the constitution by vote. -
The National Australasian Convention
The National Australasian Conventions met. Each chose representatives to attend, except for Queensland, which didn't support federation. The Committees debated each paragraph of the draft for the constitution. Some changes where made and a new constitution was drafted by Edmund Barton, John Downer and Richard O'Connor. The redrafted constitution had a referendum so the people in the colonies could vote for the new constitution. NSW Queensland and WA didn't approve. -
The New Consistution
The premiers met to find ways to fix the concerns of the three colonies disapproval. Among the changes was the idea of making a new capital city between Sydney and Melbourne. Both of which wanted to be the capital. The changed constitution went to referendum again in all colonies except WA and the Bill was passed. WA didn't believe that federation was the best thing for them. -
A Problem
The major laws in Australia were still made by the British parliament, which would mean they would have to approve the federation. In 1900 five people, including one observer from WA, took the draft constitution to London to present to the British parliament. -
Freedom!
The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act was passed by the British Government in May and was signed by Queen Victoria on 9th July 1900 and became law. The act said that on 1st January 1901 the colonies of NSW, VIC, SA, QLD, TAS would unite and be known as the 'Commonwealth of Australia'
