Arguments for and against Federation in AustraliaObstacles to Federation 1847-1882.Before the 1880s the Australian colonies were not interested in uniting to form a single country. The leaders of some colonies were, in fact, strongly opposed to the idea. Before 1856 there was little to make people living in various parts of the Australian continent feel that they had much in common. Many saw Australia as a land of exile, and for them Britain was "home." Even those who looked upon the colonies as their native land had no real concept of Australia as a nation. Enormous distances and the lack of effective transport and communications encouraged isolation from other colonies, even from other parts of the same colony. The coming of self-government in the 1850s gave each colony an identity of its own, and the power to pursue its own policies. For a long time the interests of the colonies did not coincide, at least in the eyes of most of their citizens. People became Victorians, New South Welshmen, Tasmanians, but not Australians.Click on any region of Australia to see what colonial people thought about the idea of federation during the mid-nineteenth century. Click on the up arrows to return to the map.  Map courtesy of www.theodora.com/maps used with permission. Colonies were more interested in their own development than the bigger picture. Australia was a large continent and the colonies were a long way from each other. Travelling from one colony to another was slow and difficult. Western Australia was isolated, not only by its distance and relative backwardness, but also because it was still a convict colony (a position unacceptable to the others). WA continued to receive convicts until 1868.
Pastoralists followed explorers across to the Northern Territory border and north along the coast as far as Cape York. Cattle stations were spread to remote areas of the colony. By 1865 new ports existed at Bowen, Mackay, Somerset, Cardwell, Townsville and Burketown. Gold also brought rapid progress to Queensland. Major finds were made from the late 1860s. Rushes began at Gympie in 1867, Ravenswood in 1868, Charters Towers in 1871 and at the Palmer River on Cape York in 1873. The American Civil War in the 1860s interrupted supplies of cotton and tobacco to England from the southern United States. Some Queensland farmers began to grow them, but once peace returned to the United States the Queensland crops declined. Captain Robert Towns, a cotton grower began bringing cheap labourers, known as Kanakas, from the South Pacific islands. Some were virtually kidnapped by shipowners who became known as 'blackbirders'. The Islanders were paid very low wages. This practice was very unpopular with white workers. Even when cotton failed employers still brought Islanders to Queensland to work. They were employed on the sugar plantations that were slowly but steadily increasing in number in the 1860s and 1870s. The Australasian of 22 January 1876 reported: "The employment of Kanakas as general labourers has excited strong opposition in some parts among the working men of the colony."Workers in the other colonies resented Islanders coming into Australia. There was also disagreement in Queensland. Evidence of kidnapping and murder of Islanders and harsh treatment by employers led to the passing of a law in 1885 that stated that there were to be no more Islanders brought in after 1890. When the sugar industry ran into economic problems in 1891-92 the government changed its mind and allowed Islanders to be brought back. This was to be a source of trouble between Queensland and other colonies through the 1890s, and made some Queenslanders oppose Federation. On the other hand the stronger colonies felt they would lose by assisting in the development of the smaller colonies. For example, in 1848 New South Wales asserted its belief that it should be the leading colony: New South Wales and Victoria were rivals. New South Wales was older but Victoria was richer. New South Wales supported free trade; Victoria had high tariffs. Even their railway lines were different widths. Arguments over the location of the site for the Australian capital is an example of this rivalry. Free Trade versus Protection. Protection was a popular policy in Victoria because people believed it would help to provide jobs for those who could no longer find work on the goldfields. Their demands joined those already put forward by farmers near Geelong, who could not compete with cheaper wheat sent in from South Australia. The important factor that led the Victorian government to adopt protective tariffs, however, was the need for finance. In the 1850s taxes on gold provided the government with much of its revenue. When money raised in this way declined, the government was forced to look elsewhere for revenue. What was more natural than to tax goods coming into the colony? This solution was the one urged by David Syme, editor of the Age newspaper from 1860. Syme attacked the free trade system: 'By this system of naked competition, our manufacturers or mechanics are prevented from even making a beginning in the work of opening up new sources of industry amongst us . . . the people of Australia will be as utter strangers to all scientific skill and practical dexterity in the arts and manufactures of highly civilised nations as are the Bedouins of Barbary, or the Tartars of Central Asia.' Nevertheless, protection was a controversial policy because it was widely believed that governments should not interfere in the free flow of trade and other economic activity. Those who held free trade or laissez-faire ideas resisted protection with all their power, and it was only introduced in Victoria after a series of political crises. It was disliked in Britain and in other colonies. In particular, New South Wales preferred free trade and there were disagreements between the two colonies. Under federation there would be a common trade policy. People were apathetic about federation. They didn't see much value in it. While Britain provided protection for Australia through its navy, there was little need to federate for defence purposes."Why bother?" The Main Arguments for FederationImmigration Policy: Different immigration policies between colonies created problems. For example, Victoria banned Chinese immigrants. South Australia did not so Chinese immigrants landed in South Australia and then made their way overland to the Victorian goldfields. Thousands of Chinese immigrants came to Australia to search for gold. In order to restrict the number of migrants from Asia, it was necessary for all the colonies to act together and work out a single common policy.Trading Policy: Different trading policies between colonies created disadvantages. The free trade policies of New South Wales stifled the development of local industry. The protectionist policies of Victoria increased the costs of products to consumers. Nevertheless there was an increase of many kinds of business between colonies. The colonies were importing from and exporting to each other in increasing amounts. This situation could only improve if there were common policies between the colonies. Many people came to agree that there should be a single nation with no customs barriers between colonies. Interstate Communication: Communication differences such as different railway gauges between colonies made intercolonial transport costs higher. Communications were improving and travelling became easier. Telegraph lines joined all the capitals and in 1884 Sydney and Melbourne were linked by telephone. Foreign Policy: There was a lack of foreign policy. Britain controlled foreign policy and was slow to react to issues specifically affecting Australia. In the 1880s France, Germany and Russia were expanding in the Pacific area. The colonies would be stronger if they had one single army and navy to protect the whole country. When Germany took over NE New Guinea in 1884 there was no organisation to declare policy for all of the Australian colonies. Defence: Individually each colony was weak but if they pooled their resources they would be stronger. It was not practical for each colony to have its own army and navy, so federation was seen as an advantage for defence. Nationalism: Australian national feeling was growing stronger. There was a growing sense of Australian nationalism. By 1888, 70 per cent of the people in Australia had been born here. Australia was their homeland and they were proud of it.
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