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.