Arguments For and Against Federation

In the early 1900s, there was a lot of debate surrounding federation. Some main arguments for federation included nationalism and uniting Australia, upgrading and unifying transport and communication systems, and uniting Australia’s defence forces for a more secure nation. Main arguments against federation included colonial self-interests, and the fact that not everyone was interested in federating at this time.

One of the biggest arguments for federation was uniting colonies in transport, communication and trade differences. An example of this is the different sized railway tracks each colony had. New South Wales had a rail line that was 1.42m wide, in Victoria it was 1.6m wide, and in Queensland it was 1.06 metres. All these different widths meant that different tracks and trains were needed for each colony. With a federated nation, a standard track width could be settled on, as to avoid train swapping at borders and save time and to provide more convenience. Also a single, united Australia would be much more appealing to overseas investors. Now united, trading with Australia as one was easier for overseas trade, rather than having to deal with six separate colonies. These improvements, time saving and trade conveniences were used to stimulate debate for federation.

A second main argument for federation was upgrading and unifying Australia’s defence forces through federation, to achieve a secure Australia. Australia was facing potential enemies, as Germany had taken New Guinea and if Australia had federated sooner, this may have not been the case. Also Britain’s major general Edwards was criticising Australia’s defence forces, saying a unified Australian army was needed of these 6 colonial militias. Federation provided a solution to this, making it a large argument in the debate for federation.

As people started to see themselves as Australian instead of British, a sense of nationalism started occurring throughout Australia, and the idea of a federation supported and reinforced this feeling. Through mediums like literature, sport and art, an Australian identity was being promoted, and at this time 80% of the population were now native born Australians. All of this was evidence of the largely growing sense of Australian nationalism, and was used as an argument raised in favour of the federation of Australia.

Not everyone shared the view on a unified Australia, and for colonies their self interests were holding their support for federation back. Each colony had at least one major problem with unifying. Western Australia feared its interest would get overlooked in favour of the eastern colonies, due to distance and isolation. Queensland was worried with its economy; it relied heavily on sugar, and the majority of workers in the cane fields were pacific islanders. Queensland was worried that with federation, immigration laws would result in

the important of these workers. New South Wales was thinking about losing control of its railways, and territory to neighbouring states, such as losing broken hill to South Australia. In the midst of all this, New South Wales and Victoria were great rivals, and both wanted to hold the capital of the new federated Australia. Neither would accept the other of getting hold of this right. All these colonies were so worried about these problems caused by federation, creating these arguments against federation to be raised.

A final major argument against federation was that there were so many people who didn’t care or were too busy to even bother. A lot of citizens were not interested in federation because they didn’t see how they could themselves from it, and believed it was just a matter for the upper classes and politicians. People were also too busy with daily living and earning for them and their families. The 1890s was a time of economic depression and this was making earning a living harder and more time and effort consuming; how were people meant to think about federation during this time? These were problems which caused people to become uninterested in federation, creating another argument used in the debate against federation.

Main arguments for federation, including the upgrading and unifying of all the colonies transport and communication systems, the synchronisation of Australia’s defence forces, and the growing sense of Australian nationalism were all thrown towards those against federation. These fighting against federation were using the self-interest of colonies and the lack of civilian interest as arguments. These debates were held endlessly until the ballot box vote was held across Australia. These results unified Australia into six states, all now acting under federated laws as well as state laws. In the long run, Australia has benefited from this major decision, and I personally am glad this is the case.