How important was the 1901 federation in Australia's history?

Answer 1

The federation was extremely important to Australia's history. It represents the time when the six Australian colonies of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania, were united as one nation under a single constitution.

Because of Federation, there were numerous benefit. Trade was one main area which would benefit. Prior to Federation, there were steep tariffs imposed on the transport of goods across the borders of the states. Federation removed these tariffs and allowed for free trade between the states. Other important laws were expected to be made uniform, such as taxes and banking. This was particularly important in the light of the recent (1892) depression, which was a time of economic instability. Many saw that Federation, in bringing unity, could only bring more stability to the country. Labour laws, also, were standardised (to a degree) across the states with Federation. The great Shearers' Strike of the 1890s had resulted in the formation of workers' unions, and the newly-formed Australian Labor Party saw that unification would allow this standardisation.

One of the main areas of importance was independence from England. As a result of the goldrushes, Australia was wealthy enough to govern independently of England. Federation was but a small step in the overall independence of Australia, allowing it to move away from the influence of Mother England and become a self-governing nation in its own right. This was a process which took many decades, but Federation certainly enabled that first step.

Federation was important in the development of a national Defence Force. Each of the states had its own defence force, but these were not strong enough to protect Australia's vast coastline from attack. There were distinct advantages in uniting the defence under one command, an important consideration as the German and French presence in the Pacific increased.

Federation was good fir national morale. Patriotism was becoming stronger, with the rise of Australian talents like 'Banjo' Paterson advocating the idea of freedom, the bush life and tossing off authority.