What was Australia's first form of government?

Answer 1

Australia's first form of government from 1788 was military. The Colony of New South Wales was established as a military post to protect the East Indies trade, manned by Marines, with a convict labour force. Setters arrived progressively. It was governed by a Governor who was also Captain-General. As the Colony matured, it had by 1823 a Legislative Council of public office holders and free citizen members, nominated by the Governor. In 1842 this was changed to a partly-nominated, partly elected Legislative Council. In 1855 representative government was established with an elected Legislative Assembly and a nominated upper house - the Legislative Council. Similar arrangements grew up in the othe Colonies as they were established - Van Diemens Land (later Tasmania), Port Phillip District (Victoria) , Moreton Bay District (Queensland), South Australia and Western Australia, each with their own Governor appointed by the British Government. They all agreed to federate into the Commonwealth of Australia, which was formed in 1901 with a universal franchise (including women) electing a lower house (House of Representatives) and upper house (Senate). A governor general was also appointed. The ex-colonies, now States, each had a bi-cameral parliament and State governor.