The second key reason put forward for federation was the issue of immigration. Aside from the fear of being invaded by foreign powers, there was also the concern of being invaded by coloured immigrants. Over the first several years there was big encouragement for British immigration and all other migrants were barely tolerated. Many Federation leaders were pushing for a White Australia and in order to do so there needed to be one unified immigration policy. This policy would come to affect not only the non-white immigrants from China and the Pacific Islands but also the Indigenous people of Australia. This policy was particularly emphasised after the gold rush period which brought in large numbers of Chinese immigrants that were seen to be taking over jobs which were meant for white Australians. The Immigration Restriction Act was one of the first acts passed by the federated Parliament which abolished nearly all non-European immigration. Through this immigration policy did not extend to the indigenous community in Australia, they were stripped of their claim to their land and were excluded from the nation consensus. This was part of the Commonwealth Franchise Act of 1902 in which “no aboriginal native of Australia, Asia, Africa or the Islands of the Pacific, except New Zealand, shall be entitled to have his name placed on the electoral roll.” These issues of immigration were used by various supporters of Federation to increase support through fear of being taken over by a foreign populations. It was made to be essential that the states have one immigration policy to stop migrants from moving from state to state and to allow British settlers to move around states more freely.
The next key reason for federation was economic unity of tax, trade and transport. For those people in support of federation transport was an important aspect. Before Federation each state had its own independent rail system. This meant that no rail systems were connected with other states and because of the distance between them “states had tended to regard themselves as stand-alone entities and not part of a unified nation.” Due to this separation trade between states was affected because of the different custom and trade laws in each state and people “relied heavily then, as it does now, on the ability to move goods and people freely about the nation”. This issue of transport and trade is also linked to tariffs and taxes as each state had its own tax and trade laws and this affected the goods and services that were brought to each independent state. Through federation the nation would be able to create a “uniform tariff on goods entering Australia, from which it would derive its revenue.” This would reduce tensions between the states and ensure the continued relations with overseas trading companies. This argument showed the need for one Australian economy which would work for all states and illustrates the advantages of having one unified economy which relied on all the states and this way “trade, commerce and intercourse between the states was to be absolutely free.”
Federation was the emergence of Australia as a single nation. Even though at present we are all happy to be part of Australia at first there was some opposition to unifying the states within the nation. Those that supported the notion of Federation put forward several reasons to why Federation would benefit the states. Some of the reasons discussed in this paper included; defence and the inability of each independent state to suitable protect their interests. It was concluded that Australia needed a single federated defence force in order to protect itself. Among other reasons was the issue of immigration and the different migration laws set up by each individual state which allowed for the free movement of migrant and restricted British settlers. The idea behind this was to create one Immigration Restriction Act to be implemented in all states and restrict the ‘unsuitable’ migrants from entering Australia. The third, but by far not the last, reason discussed is economy. This looks at transport, trade and tax which is being affected by the different policies implemented in each independent state. The notion of a unified economy looks at the advantaged of having one single tax and trade system that would come to benefit all the states as one whole nation. The notion of Federation is an important aspect of Australian history that helped shape Australia into one nation.
Bibliography:
“A History of Australian Road and Rail.” Federal Government of Australia. (accessed July 07 2011).
Grimshaw, Patricia. "Federation as a turning point in Australian history" Australian Historical Studies, 33:118 (2002): 25-4.
Irving, Helen. 1999. "Introduction" in The Centenary Companion to Australian Federation, Irving, Helen, Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Macintyre, Stuart. The Oxford History of Australia Volume 4: The succeeding Age 1901-1942. Victoria: Oxford University Press, 1986
Willoughby, E. “Our Federation Journey 1901-2001.” Federation Museum Victoria. (accessed July 07 2011).
Irving, Helen. 1999. "Introduction" in The Centenary Companion to Australian Federation, Irving, Helen, Cambridge University Press, 1999, p.1
Irving, “Introduction,” p.1
Willoughby, E. “Our Federation Journey 1901-2001.” Federation Museum Victoria. (accessed July 07 2011).
Willoughby, “Our Federation Journey 1901-2001.”
Grimshaw, Patricia. "Federation as a turning point in Australian history" Australian Historical Studies, 33:118 (2002): p.32.
“A History of Australian Road and Rail.” Federal Government of Australia. (accessed July 07 2011), p.1.
Macintyre, Stuart. The Oxford History of Australia Volume 4: The succeeding Age 1901-1942. Victoria: Oxford University Press, 1986. p.78
Macintyre, The Oxford History of Australia, p.77
