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Australian Federation Fun Facts

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Australian Federation Fun Facts

Mei, Chloe and Hamish are helping create a history stall at a music festival. Read the fact file, explore the timeline and complete the challenges. Use evidence from the sheet where you can.

Fact file: joining the colonies

Before Federation, the continent was governed as six separate British colonies, including colonies on the eastern and southern coasts and in the west. People supported Federation for different reasons. A united country could make decisions about matters such as defence, trade between colonies and immigration. There were also disagreements about how the new nation should be governed and where its capital should be. Conventions and public votes helped shape the plan. The Australian Constitution set out how the new Commonwealth government would work and divided responsibilities between the Commonwealth and the states. At the beginning of 1901, the colonies united as the Commonwealth of Australia. The first Prime Minister led the new government. Melbourne served as the temporary seat of the national government while Canberra was planned and built. Federation changed the way Australia was governed, but Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples had lived on and cared for these lands for tens of thousands of years before Federation; it did not make them equal participants in the new national political system.

A timeline to explore

Use the timeline to put Federation in context. The marks show significant dates; they are not equally spaced by year.

1.Which date marks the beginning of the Commonwealth of Australia?

26 January 1788
1 January 1901
25 April 1915

2.Select the group made up entirely of colonies that joined at Federation.

New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania
New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Northern Territory, Tasmania and New Zealand
Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Australian Capital Territory, Tasmania and New South Wales

3.Use the timeline. Write these events from earliest to latest: the site for the national capital is selected (1908); the First Fleet arrives (1788); Federation begins (1901).

4.At the festival stall, Chloe says, “The Constitution was a map showing where each colony was.” Is Chloe correct? Explain what the Constitution set out.

5.Complete the sentence: Before Federation, the continent was governed as six separate British .

6.Which person became Australia’s first Prime Minister in 1901?

Edmund Barton
Henry Parkes
John Curtin

7.True or false? Canberra was already the national capital when Federation began.

TrueFalse

8.Mei is making a festival quiz. Give one reason from the fact file why some people supported Federation.

9.The fact file says Federation changed how Australia was governed, but Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples were not equal participants in the new national political system. What does this tell you about who benefited from political change at Federation?

10.Write a two-sentence fact card for the stall. Include the date of Federation and one detail about how the new nation was governed or led.