Ra2 2e ch01

Two significant symbols of Australias history, the
Rainbow Serpent and the Federation Star, illuminated the

Sydney Harbour Bridge to welcome the New Year and the
Centenary of Federation, 1 January 2001.
Chapter 1
LIVING IN
AUSTRALIA
19001914
On 1 January 1901, the six British colonies in

Australia were officially declared a federation.
An eight-kilometre procession of bands, floats
and dignitaries wound through Sydneys
streets, which were lined with people waving
Brtish flags. A crowd of nearly 100 000
gathered in Sydneys Centennial Park to
witness the Earl of Hopetoun, Australias first
Governor-General, swear in the new Federal
Government and Australias first Prime
Minister, Edmund Barton.
In the next 14 years, the new Federal
Parliament introduced many laws that helped
define the type of society that Australia would
be. There were benefits for women, who were
given the vote, and for working men, who were
guaranteed a basic wage. But the freedoms of
non-whites were taken away, the immigration
of Asians and Pacific Islanders was stopped
and the rights of indigenous Australians were
restricted further.
Photograph of the Kiosk in Centennial Park during

the swearing-in ceremony for Australias Federation,
1 January 1901
A student:
5.1 explains social, political and cultural
developments and events and evaluates their
impact on Australian life
5.3 explains the changing rights and freedoms of
Aboriginal peoples and other groups in
Australia
5.5 identifies, comprehends and evaluates
historical sources
5.8 locates, selects and organises relevant
historical information from a number of
sources, including ICT, to undertake historical
inquiry
5.9 uses historical terms and concepts in
appropriate contexts.
INQUIRY
What was life like in Australia at the turn of the
century?
How and why did Federation occur?
What were the voting rights of various groups in
Australia at Federation?
How and why was the Immigration Restriction Act
of 1901 introduced?
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La Trobe Collection, State Library of Victoria
Anglo-Celtic: describes someone whose ethnic

origins are in the British Isles
balance of power: a situation in which the votes
of a small political party are needed by the
government for it to pass laws
census: an official count of the population, carried
out every five years in Australia
cesspit: a hole in the ground in which human
waste is placed
Coolgardie safe: a cabinet for keeping food cool.
Water drips down gauze cloth on the sides, and air
flowing through the gauze cools the inside of the
cabinet.
culture: the way of life of a group of people
farrier: a blacksmith who shoes horses
franchise: the rights of a citizen, especially the
right to vote
free trade: the principle of being able to have trade
without duties, tariffs or other restrictions
High Court: the federal court established under
the Constitution (by the Judiciary Act of 1903) that
has jurisdiction over constitutional matters and
appeals from the Supreme Courts of the states
laissez-faire: describes a system based on the
belief that government should not interfere in the
lives of people or the conduct of business
mechanics institute: a hall in a country town or
suburb with facilities for working people to study
and attend educational lectures
naturalise: to make someone a citizen of a country
or place
pastoralist: landholder of large sheep or cattle
property
Privy Council: a body of advisers to the British
monarch; a final court of appeal for some
Commonwealth countries
referendum: the process by which changes can be
made to the Australian Constitution. For a change
to be implemented it must be supported by a
majority of voters in a majority of states.
socialism: a political system based on the belief
that governments should own and control important
services and utilities (such as public transport and
electricity) and that people should have equal
opportunities
squatter: originally someone who settled on Crown
land to run stock without government permission;
the term was later applied to rich, influential
landholders
superannuation: a regular payment into a fund
that provides benefits to people after they retire
from work
tariff: a tax on imported goods
trade union: workers organisation set up to
represent and help members with work problems
and improve wages and working conditions
workers compensation: a scheme that provides
payments for workers who suffer a work-related
accident, injury or disease
Theatre poster advertising a play produced in 1909
3
CHAPTER 1: LIVING IN AUSTRALIA 19001914
1.1
TURN OF THE CENTURY
ORDINARY AUSTRALIAN LIVES
Source 1.1.2
STREETS AND HOMES OF THE

CITIES AND TOWNS
An extract from Clancy of the Overflow, 1889, by

A. B. (Banjo) Paterson. It conveys the feelings of an
office-bound worker in the city at the end of the nineteenth
century.
Australia was very different at the start of the

twentieth century compared with today. The streets
of Australian cities in the early 1900s were dusty,
noisy and dirty. They were usually wood-paved or
simply dirt and were crowded with horses. Many
businesses depended on horses farriers, bus and
tram companies, carriers and livery stables.
I am sitting in my dingy little office, where a stingy

Ray of sunlight struggles feebly down between the houses tall,
And the foetid air and gritty of the dusty, dirty city
Through the open window floating, spreads its foulness over all
And in place of lowing cattle, I can hear the fiendish rattle
Of the tramways and the buses making hurry down the street,
And the language uninviting of the gutter children fighting,
Comes fitfully and faintly through the ceaseless tramp of feet.
Source 1.1.1
And the hurrying people daunt me, and their pallid faces haunt me
As they shoulder one another in their rush and nervous haste,
With their eager eyes and greedy, and their stunted forms and
weedy,
For townsfolk have no time to grow, they have no time to waste.
And I somehow rather fancy that Id like to change with Clancy,
Like to take a turn at droving where the seasons come and go,
While he faced the round eternal of the cash-book and the
journal
But I doubt hed suit the office, Clancy, of The Overflow.
Source 1.1.3
View of George Street, Sydney, looking west, c.1890
To cross the streets, people walked through mud,

dust and horse manure, which had to be cleaned up
each evening. Flies and smells were a part of
everyday city life. Electric trams, introduced to some
parts of Sydney in the 1890s, caused many problems
for the horses, and laws were introduced to protect
the animals from these mechanical monsters.
Many city workers longed for the clean air and
open spaces of the bush, as expressed in the poem
by Banjo Paterson (source 1.1.2).
People spent most of the day working and had
little time for leisure. While the men were at work,
the women attended to household duties and looked
after the small children. Housework was very
labour intensive for women, as there were no electrical appliances. Clothes were usually washed by
hand and the family wash could take a whole day
(see source 1.1.4).
A drawing from 1886 showing how Darlinghurst in Sydney

looked at that time
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Source 1.1.4
Late nineteenth-century photograph of women at Tilba Tilba in New South Wales. They are washing clothes in a copper,
which was heated over a fire. Wooden sticks were used to agitate the clothing and remove it from the boiling water.
Women also spent a good part of the day preparing and cooking the evening meal. As there was
no refrigeration, meat and perishables were kept
either in a Coolgardie safe, the popular method in
rural areas, or in an ice chest. The ice chest used a
large block of ice placed in the top of the chest from
which cold air fell to the bottom.
Children attended primary school, where they
were taught basic reading, writing and arithmetic.
Most left school at the age of 12 and went straight
to work. Those who could afford it moved on to
secondary school.
In working-class suburbs, poorer people survived

without any help from the government. Unemployment was a constant threat to a familys wellbeing,
as people were expected to look after themselves
under the laissez-faire system of the time. Many
children were forced to work. Overcrowded slum
conditions existed in all Australian cities.
Source 1.1.6
Source 1.1.5
A photograph of children playing outside the Sydney

Harbour Trust Poor School in The Rocks, c.1895. Although
the weather was cold, as indicated by the childrens layers of
clothing, the poorer children do not have shoes.
A photograph of Wexford Street (near the present Campbell

Street) in Sydney in 1900. Many poorer people in the city
lived in conditions like these.
5
Life could be a constant struggle for working-class

families, and society did little to help them. Families
tended to be large, and there was little money to
spare for childrens shoes or meat for the table. Most
of these families believed in cleanliness and
behaving well, and mothers made enormous efforts
to keep the family together during hardships.
Not all doctors believed in basic procedures such

as washing their hands before surgery or after
examining patients with contagious diseases. Some
used unsterilised instruments and carried out operations in front of up to 60 unmasked students.
There was limited understanding of the ways in
which diseases were spread.
The disposal of household and human waste was
another threat to public health. Open cesspits were
common, even in the wealthiest Sydney suburbs
such as Woollahra, where 80 per cent of homes had
them. Other people had a pan system from which
waste might be emptied once a week by collectors
known as nightmen.
HEALTH AND HYGIENE

In the early twentieth century, thousands of people
died from diseases that are easily preventable or
treatable today. The main killers were tuberculosis,
typhoid, diarrhoea and diphtheria. Smallpox and outbreaks of bubonic plague were common. The average
life expectancy in Australia around 1900 was about 54
years, compared with approximately 78 years today.
When people became sick they usually tried to
cure themselves. Doctors were very expensive and
hospitals were places to avoid. One in four people
died in hospital, mainly because of the unsanitary
conditions and a lack of government funding.
Source 1.1.8
Life-saving antibiotics were not invented

until the 1940s.
Drugs such as opium, morphine and
cocaine were commonly found in many of
the medicines that were sold to the public
in the early 1900s.
The most common drug at the turn of the
century was tobacco, which was smoked
or chewed.
An advertisement for a typical earth closet, which appeared

in Australasian Ironmonger, Diary and Textbook, 1888
Source 1.1.7
A photograph showing ratcatchers during the Sydney plague crisis of 1900. Rats were responsible for the rapid spread
of the deadly bubonic plague.
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A new reservoir at Prospect helped to improve

the water supply from the 1890s, which led to
improvements in personal hygiene. For example:
bathrooms were built in new houses and people
started to bathe more often at least once a week
people washed their hands before handling food
flush toilets were introduced
clothes were washed more frequently.
However, these improvements were only available to those who could afford them, and many
working-class people continued to live in unhealthy
conditions during the early 1900s.
Check your understanding

1. Why were there so many horses in Australian cities in
the early 1900s?
2. How did most women spend their day?
3. What happened to people who couldnt support
themselves in the early 1900s?
4. Why were many working-class children forced to work?
5. Which diseases killed most people around the turn of
the century?
6. When people were unwell, why did they attempt to
cure themselves?
7. Explain why sewerage and clean water were important
improvements to the health of Australians in cities.
8. What were the most significant inventions of the late
1800s?
TIME FOR TECHNOLOGY

In 1901 there were no televisions, aeroplanes or
computers. One of the greatest inventions happened towards the end of the nineteenth century
electricity. Most people in cities and towns used gas
for lighting and heating until well into the 1920s.
Wood or gas stoves were also common, as only the
rich could afford electric power in their homes.
Using sources
1. Write a half-page description of the scene in source
1.1.1.
2. What feelings about living in the city does the poet
express in source 1.1.2? Quote a line from the poem
that supports any of your statements.
3. Look at source 1.1.3 and imagine you are walking
through that suburb. Write a half-page description of
the sights, sounds and smells around you.
4. Use source 1.1.4 to explain how most people washed
their clothes at the turn of the century.
5. Choose two of the children in source 1.1.5 and
describe the differences in their clothing.
6. What evidence do sources 1.1.6 and 1.1.7 provide
about health issues in cities around 1900? How would
conditions like these create problems?
7. Describe how the earth closet in source 1.1.8 and the
stove in source 1.1.9 worked.
Source 1.1.9
Researching and communicating

1. Find out the causes of some of the diseases mentioned
on page 6. When was a vaccine, cure or prevention
found for each and by whom? Present your findings as
a timeline or PowerPoint show.
2. Write a speech you might give in the early 1900s to a
group of doctors who do not want to use the new
hygienic methods in hospitals. Deliver your speech to a
small group and choose the best ones to present to the
class.
3. Imagine you are a government official investigating the
living conditions of working-class people. Prepare five
questions you might ask the mother of the house. Ask a
classmate to answer the questions as if it were 1910.
4. Use desktop-publishing software to create a poster
recommending to Australians of the early 1900s that
they connect to the latest telephone technology.
Wood-burning stoves, such as the one in this advertisement

from 1907, were used in most Australian homes in the early
1900s and could still be found in the 1960s.
The first telephones were introduced in Sydney

in 1880. By 1899, there were so many phone calls
that lines were frequently engaged. Until 1914,
calls in Sydney were connected manually through
an operator, which also slowed the system.
A different way of communicating was by radio
(known as wireless), which was invented by Marconi
in 1895. At first, signals could only be sent over short
distances. Most radio messages were in morse code,
which was accepted as the standard telegraphic code
for Australia in 1897. The first long-distance radio
transmission in Australia took place in 1905 between
Devonport in Tasmania and Queenscliff in Victoria.
Worksheets
1.1 Technology timeline
7
1.2
THE LIGHTER SIDE OF LIFE
FOR RICH AND POOR
became more widely available and the works of such
authors as Charles Dickens were eagerly read.
Public libraries were established in many cities, and
working-class people sought to improve themselves
through study, sometimes at mechanics institutes
or Schools of Art. Compulsory public education
meant that all children not just those who could
afford it were taught to read and write.
Reading was so popular that Australians bought
about one-third of Britains published books at the
turn of the century. Crowds would gather at the
docks to grab the latest instalments of popular
novels in an age when ships took up to three
months to travel between Britain and Australia.
SOCIAL CLASS
The amount of time Australians had for leisure in
the early 1900s depended very much on the social
class to which they belonged. There were three
basic classes of European Australians the upper
class, the middle class and the working class.
Upper-class people were very rich and owned
large amounts of land, large businesses, or had
inherited their wealth.
The middle class was made up of small shopkeepers, the self-employed and those who earned
their living from professional occupations, for
example lawyers, teachers and accountants.
The working class generally worked under a
boss and usually in a manual job. Most
people belonged to this class. They had
little money and did not have the
opportunities for leisure that the
wealthier members of society
enjoyed.
Source 1.2.1
ROLL ON THE
WEEKEND
Sunday was a special day for
people because the Sabbath
was observed. This meant
that shops and factories were
closed so that people could
attend church. After the introduction of Saturday afternoon
closing for shops and factories,
there was more free time for
working people and more opportunities
for relaxation and entertainment. However, for married women, especially those of
the working class, the labour-intensive nature of
housework allowed them little time to be involved in
any activities apart from the home and family.
Some people spent Sunday attending church,
while others might hitch up the horse, if they had
one, and go on a picnic (see source 1.2.1).
A photograph of a family picnic, around the turn of the

century, near Adelaide. Picnics were enjoyed by all classes in
society.
SLSA: MLSA: B 19384 S
Music was another home entertainment that was

widely enjoyed. Families who could afford to own a
piano or a gramophone (see source 1.2.2) would
regularly gather for singalongs or enjoy music after
the evening meal. In the late nineteenth century,
Australia had the highest per capita ownership of
pianos in the world. Card games such as cribbage
and euchre were also popular.
HOME ENTERTAINMENTS
High-speed printing presses, cheap paper and
higher literacy rates led to an increase in reading as
a favourite leisure activity. Books and newspapers
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acceptable to the European establishment. It was difficult to join a club, as there were strict membership
rules and expensive fees. At the club, the men might
have dinner or luncheon, read newspapers, smoke,
drink, play billiards and sometimes discuss politics.
Alcohol consumption was a favourite pastime for all
social classes, and Australians were considered heavy
drinkers. Hotels were busy places, especially on
Saturday afternoons when workers finished their
jobs. Most men preferred to drink in the men-only
public bars; women drank in a separate ladies lounge.
Source 1.2.2
Source 1.2.3
Extract from a visitors account of the extent of alcohol
consumption in Australian society
At whatever hour of the day a man meets another
whom he has not seen for say twelve hours, etiquette
requires that he shall incontinently invite him to come
and drink. This is a custom that pervades every class in
the colony, and cannot be departed from without
something more than a breach of good manners . . .
H. Finch-Hatton, Advance Australia! An Account of Eight Years
Work, Wandering and Amusement in Queensland, New South
Wales and Victoria, London, 1885, pp. 31517.
Gambling was another form of entertainment for all

classes in the early 1900s. Large crowds attended
important race meetings at Randwick Racecourse or
Harold Park in Sydney. One of the appeals of horse
racing was that a battler from the bush or city could
win substantial amounts of prize money on a good
horse. The general public hoped to become wealthy by
backing winners, and they could forget about the hardships of life at least while the race was being run.
Gramophones such as this one, advertised around 1900,

were still a novelty at the turn of the century.
ON THE SOCIAL SCENE

People looking for entertainment outside the
home could attend live theatre productions,
musical recitals, vaudeville shows or the
greatest show on earth the circus.
Dancing was popular with all social
classes. Concert and dance halls were built
near hotels and attracted large numbers of
people, especially on Saturday afternoons.
The wealthier members of society held balls,
sometimes fancy dress, and attendance was
by invitation only.
Dances also gave people the chance to meet
members of the opposite sex. Girls from
wealthier backgrounds attended adult balls
from as young as 13 or 14. A well-to-do girls
coming out occurred when she was aged
about 16. This often took place at a debutante
ball and it signified that the girl was ready
for marriage. Many Australian girls married
at about 18 years of age and were considered
old maids if not married by the age of 25.
It was a custom of wealthy and well-connected men
to visit their club but only those men who were
Source 1.2.4
A photograph of the crowds of people hoping for a win at

Randwick Racecourse in 1890. The grandstand area was
available only to the better-off punters.
9
Source 1.2.5
BEACH RULES
The founder of the Salvation Army, William Booth, writes of

his concern at some of the activities that were popular in
Australia.
A day at the beach in the late nineteenth century

was a popular outing but not quite the experience
we know today. The people who crowded there could
only walk fully dressed on the sand and take in the
healthy sea air. Some might venture to the waters
edge to paddle, but ocean bathing was banned.
In 1904, the editor of the Manly Daily successfully challenged the law that prevented people
swimming between dawn and dusk. The law was
changed but swimmers had to wear costumes that
covered them from neck to knee. Many people
believed it was immoral for men and women to
swim together. Councils divided beaches into
single-sex areas or set aside special hours for
women-only bathing.
The besetments of a young nation are very similar to

those which come to a young man. The hilarity and
vigour of youth lead to a love of excitement, with all its
consequent dangers. One manifestation of this is to be
found in the terrible hold which gambling has upon the
Australians. It comes well-nigh to being a national
calamity. Boys at school, servants in families, and every
class of society from the highest to the lowest, are
infected with this moral disease. Almost every small
town has its own race-ground, and facilities for
gambling are permitted by the law, in the most
deplorable fashion. Another manifestation of the same
thing is to be found in the tremendous passion for
outdoor sports . . . These are blemishes and defects
almost inherent in a young nation, and especially in one
which has known such unparalleled material prosperity
as has fallen to the lot of the Australian colonies.
Source 1.2.7
W. Booth, Social problems in the Antipodes, in Contemporary

Review, London, vol. 61, 1892, pp. 4234.
LARRIKINS ON THE LOOSE

One group with a different idea of entertainment
was the larrikins. These were young men who
roamed the poorer suburbs of the cities in gangs or
pushes, drinking and assaulting passers-by. Often
they went into the city itself and were notorious for
causing trouble. For example, at a dance at
Chowder Bay in Sydney, larrikins threw bottles and
stones at the dancers, then rushed into the dance
and tried to separate the girls from their young
men. They were also accused of attacking churchgoers and spitting on people who were well dressed.
Source 1.2.6
Hamish Roberts, a respectable citizen of Victoria, describes
the larrikins in the early 1900s.
The pushes . . . used to wait for all the girls to come out
of church. Of course wed be the target for them,
looking for a fight . . . One of the pushes even had their
own football team. They played football against us then
chased us home with bike chains afterwards. They were
opposite to the churchgoers there was a definite
division between those who went to church and those
who didnt. A lot of the unrespectable the larrikins
were agin [against] the government and the law. And in
a lot of cases they were drunkards. They liked to break
up things and were jealous of people who got on.
A photograph of large crowds at Coogee, one of Sydneys

beaches, in 1909
Source 1.2.8
The mayor of Waverley, R. G. Watkins, made it clear in the
following quote from 1907 that he was among the many
people who did not approve of surf bathing.
Some of these surf-bathers are nothing but exhibitionists,
putting on V trunks and exposing themselves, twisted into all
shapes on the sand. Their garments after contact with the
water show up the figure too prominently. Women are often
worse than men, putting on light gauzy material that clings
when wet too much to be decent.
Janet McCalman, Class and respectability in a working-class

suburb: Richmond, Victoria, before the Great War in
Memories and Dreams, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1997.
Daily Telegraph, 1907.
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SPECIAL DAYS
Life was hard for most people at the turn of the
century but they still liked to enjoy themselves. For
example, a huge celebration was held in Australia
on Federation Day, 1 January 1901, and Australias
inauguration as a nation continued to be celebrated
each year on that date.
Apart from Federation Day, there were few
public holidays for people to enjoy in the early
1900s. One special public holiday, first held in
1905, was Empire Day. It fell on Queen Victorias
birthday (24 May) and it gave Australians the
chance to show their pride in being part of the
British Empire. At night, families lit fireworks in
their backyards or attended community bonfires to
celebrate.

1. Which day of the week was a special day for most
families? Why was it special?
2. What were the main entertainments (a) at home and
(b) in towns and cities?
3. What was the most popular form of legal gambling at
the turn of the century?
4. Who were the larrikins and how did they amuse
themselves?
5. Explain in a paragraph what a day at the beach would
involve for people in the 1890s and early 1900s.
6. Why was Empire Day significant and how did people
celebrate it?
Using sources
Source 1.2.9
1. What evidence is there in source 1.2.1 to support the

statement that picnics were popular? How
appropriately are the picknickers dressed?
2. What does the advertisement in source 1.2.2 claim that
a gramophone can do? Why would this machine be a
novelty to people at the turn of the century?
3. Read source 1.2.3. Is the writers tone one of approval
or disapproval of the drinking customs of Australians?
4. Describe the dress and appearance of the people in the
crowd at the races in source 1.2.4.
5. The writer of source 1.2.5 was the founder of the
Salvation Army, an organisation firmly opposed to
gambling. Why is it necessary for historians to be
careful when accepting his observations?
6. From the text and source 1.2.6, summarise the
character and attitudes of the larrikins. Discuss the way
we use the term larrikin in Australia today.
7. What do sources 1.2.7 and 1.2.8 indicate about
Australians attitudes to the beach c.1907?
8. Summarise source 1.2.10 in your own words.
Photograph of children dressed in national costumes of the

British Empire, celebrating Empire Day around 1910
Worksheets
1.2 Play charades
Source 1.2.10
An extract from the Sydney Daily Telegraph of 24 May 1905, explaining how it saw the importance of the first Empire Day
Today will witness the inauguration of a festival unique in the
history of the world. For the first time the British people will
dedicate a day to the great Empire which binds together in an
Imperial brotherhood about one-fourth of the human race. In that
vast community are included men of every colour and every
creed, all of whom enjoy the most perfect liberty of thought and
expression, and whose lawful liberty of action is bounded only
by respect for the equal rights of their fellows . . .
The first thought which todays celebrations awakens is the
tremendous influence exercised by the British Empire in the case
of peace on earth. It has welded a quarter of the world into one

nation . . . Countries . . . peopled by races divergent in color,
creed, language, and laws, look up to the one flag as they do to
the one sun, and see there the symbol of that mutually guaranteed peace in which they live and prosper . . . Empire Day is . . .
Australias day . . . since as long as we are in a position to celebrate it the inviolability of the Commonwealth is assured, while
should the Imperial bond snap under present circumstances, the
dream of a white Australia would that moment vanish.
Daily Telegraph, 24 May 1905.
11
1.3
CONDITIONS FOR
THE WORKERS
For most Australian workers, conditions were poor
at the turn of the century, as many of the reforms
introduced by colonial governments were often
ignored by employers. Most people had to work long
hours for little pay. If they complained, they were
sacked.
There was little government protection of working
people and workers signed individual contracts that
usually favoured the employer. Even when they had
a good, steady job, they were expected to work until
65 years of age and retire without any of the benefits
we know today, such as superannuation, longservice or sick-leave entitlements.
Source 1.3.2
FACTORIES, SHOPS AND

LABOURERS
In the cities, a large percentage of people worked in
factories. Some factory owners tried to treat their
workers well. However, most treated their workers
little better than slaves. Some factories had no
toilets and were so hot that temperatures inside
reached over 40 degrees Celsius in summer. The
usual working hours were from 8 am to 6 pm, with
an hour for dinner. Work sometimes continued until
10 pm without extra pay and most workers then
walked home, some as far as five kilometres.
Labourers in the building industry worked on
dangerous sites without the safety regulations that
exist today (see source 1.3.3).
Illustration from 1881 of the many processes in a boot factory
Source 1.3.1
Etching of 1882, showing a typical clothing factory
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60-hour weeks from 7 am to 6 pm and until 2 pm on

Saturdays. Young children were used because they
were cheap labour and could clean the spaces in the
machines that were too small for adults. The work
could be dangerous and some were killed when the
equipment failed.
Children were paid the equivalent of about two
cents for an hours work compared with four cents
for women. Many poor parents relied on their children working to provide enough money for the
family. The factory owners wanted to make as much
profit as they could and would rather pay a child a
small amount of money than pay an adult wage.
Even two years after New South Wales passed the
Factories and Shops Act of 1896, there was still no
legal minimum age limit on the boys and girls
working in a shop.
Source 1.3.3
FEMALE SERVANTS
In 1901, just over 20 per cent of all workers were
women and most of these female workers were
unmarried. Many were domestic servants who
worked as maids, servants and cooks for rich families. Pay ranged from 14 shillings (about $1.40) a
week for a housemaid to 25 shillings (about $2.50)
for a cook. Some lived in and were well treated.
Some bosses, however, took advantage of female
servants. Evenings and days off were granted as a
favour rather than as a condition of employment.
Some servants were seduced and became pregnant.
They were then often sacked and thrown out onto
the streets with no support.
Source 1.3.4
A cartoonists humorous look at the serious problem of work
practices at Sydney Central Railway Station during building
in 1905
Shop assistants usual hours were from 9 am to

9 pm on weekdays and from 9 am to 11 pm on
Saturday. During work hours they were not permitted to sit down, which often led to exhaustion. In
1896, New South Wales passed its first Factories and
Shops Act in an attempt to reduce hours and
improve conditions, but the new laws were often
ignored. Inspectors found that workers would not
give evidence against their bosses for fear of being
sacked. In 1899, even after Saturday afternoon
closing was achieved in New South Wales, it was on
condition that the store stayed open all Friday night.
Child labour
Children were expected to work from a young age.
Even though school was compulsory, it was common
for children as young as eight to work in factories,
textile mills and in the boot trade. Most would work
Domestic servants such as this Aboriginal woman,

photographed around 1910, worked long hours.
13
RURAL WORKERS
In the wool industry, shearers were badly treated.
Under the contract system they were paid one
pound (approximately two dollars) for every hundred sheep shorn. If the boss was not satisfied with
the work, he simply refused to pay. Shearers also
had to buy supplies from the boss at station rates.
This meant paying between twice and ten times
what the goods cost in the towns. The squatters
also insisted on employing contract labourers. The
shearers went on strike in several areas in the 1890s
to protest at their conditions. The confrontations
were often violent and bitter.
In western New South Wales, pastoralists relied

heavily on Aboriginal labour. Aboriginal workers
were allowed to live on the property and were
given some handouts of food in return for working
for the landowner.
Source 1.3.7
Primary producers
Manufacturing
Commerce
Transport and communication
Professional
Building
Domestic
14%
7%
7%
6%
12%
A graph showing the main occupations in Australia in 1901
Source 1.3.5
THE LABOUR MOVEMENT
A description of working conditions for shearers in 1900

The accommodation provided on Western stations for
shearers and rouseabouts is still allowed to be perpetrated.
The kennels in which the hardest working section of our
toilers are herded to live and eat together with lice, bugs,
cockroaches, fleas, spiders, scorpions, centipedes, snakes,
&c., are . . . filthy and insanitary . . . Smoke, dirt and grime
. . . adorn the walls of a majority of these filthy dens . . .
The shearer and rouseabout does not as a rule prefer filth
to cleanliness, or disease to health. It is the grandgrind
squatter who saves money by inflicting these immoral and
insanitary conditions upon his workers. The Factories Act
should be applied to these festering filthy furnaces. . . .
More, a small minority of our squatters . . . give their hands
warm, clean, and healthy lodgings with sanitary
conveniences and the greedy, mean, and despicable
majority should be compelled to do likewise.
33%
21%
The difficult living and working conditions that the

working class had to endure led to the emergence of
a strong labour movement in Australia at the
beginning of the twentieth century.
The first attempts in Australia to improve workers
conditions centred around the eight-hour day movement. This was an attempt, which began in the 1850s,
to force employers to limit workers hours to 48 hours
a week, based on the principle of eight hours work,
eight hours sleep and eight hours rest. Large rallies,
demonstrations and strikes forced some employers to
give in to the workers demands. However, most people
continued to work more than 60 hours a week and most
believed that only trade unions could force employers
to treat them more fairly. The unions were not popular
with the bosses or with the colonial governments.
Worker, Brisbane, 25 August 1900.
Source 1.3.6
Trade unions were originally groups of

skilled workers who paid a subscription to
support members who were ill, unemployed
or injured.
Source 1.3.8
W. Spences opinion of why trade unions of the early 1900s
were so popular with workers
Unionism came to the Australian bushman as a religion
. . . It had in it that feeling of mateship which he
understood already, and which always characterised the
action of one white man to another. Unionism extended
the idea, so a mans character was gauged by whether he
stood true to union rules or scabbed it on his fellows . . .
The lowest form of reproach is to call a man a scab . . .
At many a country ball the girls have refused to dance
with them, the barmaids have refused them a drink, and
the waitresses a meal.
Tom Roberts, born Great Britain 1856, arrived in Australia

1869, died 1931
Shearing the Rams 188890, oil on canvas on composition
board, 122.4 183.3 cm, Felton Bequest, 1932, National
Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
W. G. Spence, Australias Awakening, Sydney, 1909, pp. 789.
14
RETROactive 2
Australian Labor Party

The shearers and maritime workers strikes during
the early 1890s encouraged unions to attempt to
reform the political system through the ballot box.
The Council of the Australian Labour Federation
first met on 1 August 1890 and formed the basis of
the Australian Labor Party. Its members believed in
strength through unity and their main objectives
were the vote for all adult white people in Australia
and improved wages and working conditions. Many
members also believed in socialism.
In each colony, different Labour organisations
were established. The New South Wales group was
so successful that in 1891 there were 35 Labor MPs
and they held the balance of power in the New
South Wales Legislative Assembly.
Eventually these Labour organisations formed
government. The first Labour government anywhere
in the world was in Queensland, led by Andrew
Dawson in 1899. The worlds first national Labour
government was in Australia, led by John Watson in
1904. Although these early Labour governments
ruled for only a short time, they showed that the
more conservative political groups would have to
start accepting what working people wanted.
A belief that Australia was a working mans
paradise began in the 1890s. It began as a result of
the labour movements efforts to force colonial
governments to pass laws on minimum working
conditions and maximum hours of labour. At the
beginning of the twentieth century, Australia was a
world leader in social and industrial reform, mainly
due to the actions of trade unions and the Labor
Party. Industrial and social welfare legislation of
the early 1900s is discussed on pages 32 to 33.
Source 1.3.9
The front cover of the
Worker in 1893,
expressing its view of
Queensland Labour
politics

1. Why did employers want workers to sign individual
contracts?
2. Between which hours did most people work at the turn
of the century?
3. Why were attempts made to reduce working hours?
4. Why did some factory owners try to improve working
conditions? What was the attitude of most factory
owners towards their workers?
5. In which industries was child labour most common?
6. What legislation was passed in 1896 and what was it
intended to achieve?
7. Why did the shearers strikes occur in the 1890s?
8. What was the eight-hour day movement?
9. What were the main objectives of the Australian Labor
Party?
Using sources
1. Describe the working conditions shown in source
1.3.1. Why might these conditions lead to health
problems?
2. What comment can you make about the age of some
of the workers in source 1.3.1?
3. Give a brief description of each of the processes
shown in source 1.3.2. Do you think the illustration
presents a realistic impression of workers conditions?
4. List the dangers on the building site illustrated in
source 1.3.3. What does the cartoonist suggest about
the workers attitude to their work?
5. List some of the difficulties that Aboriginal servants,
such as the woman shown in source 1.3.4, might have
experienced in working in the homes of wealthy
Australians.
6. List the particular conditions in the shearers
accommodation that are criticised in source 1.3.5.
Who does the writer blame for the working
conditions?
7. The well-known painting by Tom Roberts in source
1.3.6 presents an image of hard-working shearers,
their supervisors and helpers. Does the artist present
the scene in a positive or negative way? Give reasons
for your answer.
8. Look carefully at the graph in source 1.3.7. Write five
conclusions you can make from the source.
9. Why does the writer of source 1.3.8 believe bush
workers are attracted to the trade union movement?
10. According to the drawing in source 1.3.9, what does
Labor believe in? Why is Labor shown as a woman on
a raft floating towards the sun?
Communicating
Imagine you are working in a factory in the early 1900s.
Write a letter to your boss in which you ask for a pay rise.
Give the letter to another student who will write a reply as
if they were the boss.
15
1.4
UPS AND DOWNS
TOWARDS FEDERATION
SEPARATE COLONIES
When Governor Phillip arrived in Australia in
1788, the continent was home to around 300 000
Aboriginal people. They lived in hundreds of different regions, each based on particular language
groups. The elders of each group had authority over
its members.
As you learned in your years 7 and 8 studies of
indigenous history after 1788, English law did not
recognise the elders authority or their prior occupation and the colonists had no understanding of
Aboriginal regions. The Europeans brought their
British laws and traditions with them and drew up
their own lines on maps. In stages over the next
100 years, six separate colonies were established,
each with its own form of government, its own links
to Britain and its own agenda. For example:
New South Wales was the oldest colony and it
believed that a policy of free trade was in the
best interests of its agricultural industry.
Source 1.4.1
Victoria, on the other hand, had benefited from

its rich goldfields and wanted tariffs to protect
its manufacturing industries.
South Australia took pride in being the only state
that had never transported convicts and the first
state in which women had the vote.
Queensland brought in Pacific Islanders to work
on its sugar cane, while all other states opposed
non-European migration.
ARGUMENTS FOR CHANGE

As early as 1857, a Victorian committee reported
that a federal union would be in the interests of all
the growing colonies. However, there was not
enough interest in or enthusiasm for taking positive steps towards bringing the colonies together.
Some people felt the rivalry between colonies that
had only recently achieved independence was too
strong to be able to reach any agreement.
Calls for greater unity grew louder as the century
progressed and several reasons began to stand out as
significant in the push for a federation of the colonies.
Aboriginal groups
(approx. 600 language groups)
New Holland
1788
New
South Wales
(claimed by
Britain, 1788)
1826
135
Western
Australia
1832
New
South
Wales
Unexplored
by 1800
(a) Before 1788
(approx. 40 000 years)
(b) 1788
(c) 17881832
Van Diemens
Land
Van Diemens Land

1825
New Guinea
South Queensland
Australia
New
South
Wales
Victoria
Queensland
1859
South
Australia
New
South
To
Wales
S.A.
1861
Victoria 1850
(e) 18501863
Tasmania
(re-named 1858)
(f) 1901
Tasmania
A series of maps showing the stages in the development of the states
16
RETROactive 2
Western
Australia
(d) 1836
So
South
Australia
1836
ales
hW
ut
Western
Australia
Western
Australia
Ne
w
1862
1859
To
S.A.
1863
Van Diemens
Land
There were economic advantages to be gained by

federating. The tariff policies of the different colonies were increasingly irritating to businesspeople.
These tariffs would be removed under a federation,
and free trade would lower the costs of production
and open up new markets. Some politicians
believed that the businesses and governments of
other countries, particularly Britain, would be more
willing to invest in and grant loans to a united
Australia than to individual colonies.
Defence was also raised as an issue from the
1880s onward. Each colony had its own small
defence force and there was a heavy reliance on
Britains navy for protection. However, European
countries were taking more interest in the region
and there was concern that a stronger and more
unified defence force might be needed. Given the
extent of Australias coastline, the colonial governments had always known it would be difficult to
prevent other European nations from setting up
colonies, just as the Spanish and French had done
in North America. Germany was showing an
interest in New Guinea, the French in the Pacific
islands, and Russian ships were present in the
Pacific. When Germany occupied the northern part
of New Guinea, Queensland took possession of the

south-west of the island, but some people believed
that a united Australia could have kept Germany
out altogether. To some extent, these fears subsided
by the 1890s, and defence became less of an issue in
the Federation cause.
Some historians believe that the desire for a
white Australia was a major reason for Federation.
Since the influx of foreigners with the gold rushes,
Australians were making it increasingly clear that
they wanted to preserve their colonies as a place for
white people only, and by the 1890s each colony had
its own anti-Chinese laws in place. The issue of
Asian migration was raised regularly in the media
and in political cartoons (see pages 279). It was a
particularly significant issue in the case of Queensland, where cheap labour was brought in from the
South Pacific islands, becoming a vital workforce for
farmers in the sugar industry. Other colonies feared
that they would be forced to follow Queenslands
policies, and the colonies were in disagreement
about the practice (see also page 28).
A growing sense of nationalism was evident in
the last two decades of the 1800s. There was
increasing awareness among many that Australia,
rather than Britain, was home. The Australianborn (as opposed to British-born) population was
Source 1.4.2
growing rapidly: 60 per
East
cent in 1881, rising to
China
CHINA
INDIA
75 per cent in 1901.
Sea
Formosa
A sense of nationalism
Hong
Kong
BURMA
also began to emerge in
Wake Island
the media. The Bulletin
INDOSIAM
PHILIPPINES
CHINA
Guam
magazine, first published
South
China
in 1880, encouraged the
Marshall Islands
Sea
growth of Australian litSabah
Brunei
MALAYA
erature. It was an outCelebes Sea
PA C I F I C
Sarawak
Gilbert Islands
Singapore
Equator
spoken critic of Britain
Nauru
Borneo
O C E A N
and of Australias links
Sumatra
Celebes
New Ireland
New Guinea
DU
with the mother country.
TCH
Solomon
Ellice Islands
E A S T INDIE S
Islands
Java
It published writings and
Arafura Sea
Timor
poems in support of a
Timor Sea
Samoa
republic, such as those by
New
Coral
Fiji
Hebrides
Henry
Lawson,
and
I N D I A N
Sea
whipped
up
anti-British
Tonga
New Caledonia
O C E A N
feeling among its readers
AU S T R A L I A
through cartoons and
critical comments about
Norfolk Island
the British royalty and
ruling class.
Tasman
NEW ZEALAND
Painters began highSea
Britain
lighting
the
special
Germany
features of the Australian
Chatham Islands
Netherlands
landscape. Early painters
N
France
in Australia had tended
Bounty
Island
0
500 1000 km
Portugal
to depict Australia as
Auckland Island
United States of America
Campbell Island
though it was a European
Macquarie Island
landscape, with muted
A map showing the colonial powers in the countries surrounding
light, green pastures and
Australia in the nineteenth century
17
European trees (see source 1.4.3). In the late 1880s,

a new school of painters, which included Tom
Roberts and Arthur Streeton, went out from
Melbourne by steam train to what was then the
country district of Heidelberg. They would often
paint in the bright light of a typical Australian
summers day, in which the grass became almost
white and gum trees dominated the landscape (see
source 1.4.4).
Poets began to celebrate the sound of bellbirds,
the warble of magpies and the laughter of kookaburras, all of which had previously been compared
unfavourably with the sweet sounds of English
birds.
1872, the Overland Telegraph Line linking

Adelaide and Darwin was completed, and underwater cables transmitted the signal to India and
then to Britain. News from Britain could be
transmitted in just a few minutes.
However, the Federation cause still aroused little
interest among the general public. It would take
some powerful and committed individuals to carry
the issue forward.
Source 1.4.4
Source 1.4.3
Tom Roberts, Australia, 18561931

A Break Away! 1891, Corowa, NSW and Melbourne, Victoria,
Oil on canvas, 137.3 cm 167.8 cm
Elder Bequest Fund 1899,
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
Nicholas Chevalier, born Russia 1828, lived in Australia
185467, died England 1902
The Buffalo Ranges 1864, oil on canvas, 132.8 183.7 cm
Purchased 1864, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
EARLY EFFORTS: PARKES AND

GRIFFITHS
There were also calls for more uniform laws and for
cooperation in the provision of telephone and postal
services and transport. The 1880s had been a period
of railway building: rail links between Melbourne and
Sydney were completed in 1883 and between
Brisbane and Sydney in 1888. However, each colony
developed its rail systems separately, and each chose
to build a different track width, or gauge.
Improvements in communications meant that
Australians became more aware of the situation in
the world around them. The opening of the Suez
Canal (a short-cut for ocean vessels through the
Middle East) in 1869 and the development of
steam ships meant that the voyage from Britain
could now take 30 days rather than several
months. An even greater development was the telegraph, which allowed messages to be sent almost
instantaneously by morse code. By 1870, all
Australian capitals were linked by telegraph. In
In 1881, Sir Henry Parkes, Premier of New South

Wales and a key advocate of Federation, proposed
that a Federal Council be formed to raise public
awareness of federal ideas and discuss matters that
were of common interest to all the colonies. The
first official step towards Federation was taken
with the decision in 1883 to set up the Federal
Council. It was finally formed in 1885 but New
South Wales and South Australia showed little
interest. It met only every two years, discussed
minor matters and had no power to make laws. It
was finally dissolved in 1899.
A second attempt at Federation was sparked in
1889 by Sir Henry Parkes in a speech in the town of
Tenterfield in northern New South Wales. He called
for a Parliamentary Convention of Australia a
meeting of delegates from the colonies to write a
federal constitution that would show how a federal
system of government might work.
18
RETROactive 2
Source 1.4.5
Sir Henry Parkes, known as the
Father of Federation for his role in
pushing the Federation cause in the
1880s and 1890s. He died in 1896
before his dream became a reality.
The convention was held in

Sydney in 1891 and there were
seven elected delegates from
each colony and three from New
Zealand. Lawyers from different
colonies drew up the draft constitution but Samuel Griffiths, Premier
of Queensland, did the detailed work.
However, Australia was in a serious economic
depression in 1891 and most of the colonial parliaments were not interested in the issue of Federation.
They did little to support it, and the issue seemed to
fade again.
THE SECOND CONVENTION
Commonwealth of Australia
Constitution Act on 9 July 1900,
and the new nation officially
began on 1 January 1901 at a
ceremony in Centennial Park
(see page 2). The colonies became
states of the Commonwealth of
Australia. The Earl of Hopetoun
was appointed by Queen Victoria as
Australias first Governor-General
and Sir Edmund Barton was
sworn in as the nations first
Prime Minister.
Source 1.4.6
Sir Edmund Barton served as

Australias first Prime Minister,
190103.
Many people and organisations would not let the

idea of Federation die. Groups such as the Australian Natives Association, established in 1871,
thought Federation was too important an issue to
be left to the politicians and, in 1893, they met at
Corowa in southern New South Wales, just across
the border from Victoria. They put forward the proposal for a second convention, with two important
differences from the first:
1. The delegates from each colony would be elected
directly by the people, rather than be appointed
by the colonial parliaments.
2. Once a constitution was decided on, it would
then go back to the people of each colony, who
would decide whether or not to accept it.
This second constitutional convention met in
Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne in 1897 and 1898.
In 1898, a vote on the constitution they had drawn up
was held in Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania. All four voted to accept Federation, but the New South Wales Parliament had said
it would not accept the vote unless there were more
than 80 000 yes votes, and its numbers fell short.
There seemed little point in going ahead with a
form of Federation in which only three colonies
were involved, so the premiers got together to make
changes that would make New South Wales and
Queensland happier with the constitution. In a new
referendum in 1899, all colonies except Western
Australia accepted the constitution. New promises
were made to Western Australia and, in a separate
referendum in 1900, its people decided to join.
Each of the colonies was still ruled by Britain, so the
actual Act to establish Federation had to be passed by
the British Parliament. Queen Victoria signed the
1. Use the information in the text to draw a mind map

representing the various reasons why the colonies
decided to form a Federation.
2. What was the importance of each of the following dates
in establishing Federation in Australia: 1885, 1889,
1891, 1893, 1898, 1899, 9 July 1900, 1 January 1901?
3. Why did the movement that began in Corowa in 1893
succeed when earlier ones had failed?
4. What role did Sir Henry Parkes play in pushing forward
the Federation cause?
Using sources
1. Use source 1.4.1 to match up the following dates with
the foundation of each of the six colonies: 1788, 1825,
1832, 1836, 1850, 1859.
2. From a study of source 1.4.2, list countries that were
once ruled by each of the following European powers:
Netherlands, Portugal, Britain, France, Germany.
3. Compare the paintings in sources 1.4.3 and 1.4.4.
(a) Which one most closely resembles the Australian
landscape as you see it? Give reasons.
(b) Why do you think the painters saw the Australian
landscape in different ways?

1. If possible, view the video Federation: a Three-Part
Journey to Nationhood (produced by Film Australia and
ABC television in 1999). Write a one-page review of
the video.
2. Discuss as a class the similarities and differences
between the movement for Federation at the end of the
nineteenth century and the movement for a republic at
the end of the twentieth century. (See pages 2569.)
Worksheets
1.3 Voting in the referenda
1.4 Federation quiz
19
1.5
FEATURES OF THE CONSTITUTION
AND GOVERNMENT
The Constitution is the document that sets out the
rules of the Commonwealth, or Federal, Government. The Constitution became part of a British Act
of Parliament, because in 1901 only Britain could
make laws for all of Australia.
The politicians, businessmen and lawyers who
created the Constitution faced complex tasks.
Although the colonies saw advantages in having a
Federal Government, they wanted to retain as
much of their independence as possible. The
smaller states also did not want to be dominated by
the larger ones. These needs were achieved in three
ways:
1. by spelling out (in section 51 of the Constitution)
specifically what the federal powers were to be, so
that anything else could remain with the states
2. by creating an upper house, the Senate, in which
each state, irrespective of its size, had the same
number of members
3. by stating that the Constitution could be
changed only by a referendum, in which people
would vote yes or no for the change. As smaller
states were concerned that electors in Victoria
and New South Wales could, by themselves,
make up a majority, it was also decided that

change required the agreement of both a
majority of voters and a majority of states.
The makers of the Constitution studied constitutions around the world, particularly those in
Canada, the United States, Germany and Switzerland. They chose elements from each and rejected
others.
None of the overseas constitutions had provision for female suffrage (the right to vote in
elections), which came to Britain, Germany
and Canada only in 1918 and the United
States in 1920. Women around Australia
lobbied strongly and won the right to be
included as eligible voters (see pages 245).
It was decided to base Australias system of

government on the British, or Westminster, system,
creating three arms of government: the legislature,
executive and judiciary (see source 1.5.1).
Source 1.5.1
Judiciary interprets the law
Executive puts law into effect
Privy Council (Britain)
Queen
(Appeals
abolished
in 1986)
Governor-General
With senior ministers forms
Executive Council
Interprets the Constitution and

is the highest court of appeal
Legislature
formulates the law
Senate
Same number of members
elected from each state
House of Representatives
Members elected from electorates of
approximately equal numbers of voters
A diagram showing the structure of Australias Commonwealth Government as a constitutional monarchy.

This follows the Westminster division of power.
20
RETROactive 2
CIVICS AND CITIZENSHIP FOCUS

PARLIAMENT
Parliaments main task is to make laws. The men
who wrote the Constitution decided that the new
Federal Parliament, whose laws would apply to all
of Australia and not just a particular colony or
state, would consist of Britains monarch as head of
state (the king or queen), a Senate (the upper or
states house) and a House of Representatives (or
lower house).
Since it was clear that the monarch could not or
would not live in Australia, a Governor-General
was to represent him or her. The Constitution
states that the Governor-General is to be appointed
by the monarch, but in practice the monarch
accepts the recommendation made by the
Australian Prime Minister. The Senate and the
House of Representatives are made up of politicians
elected, or voted, into power by the people.
For a law to be created, it must be approved by all
three sections of Parliament. Laws are created in
this way: a Bill is agreed to by voting in both houses
of Parliament the House of Representatives and
the Senate and the Governor-General then gives
his or her assent. In this way, the Bill becomes an
Act of Parliament and so becomes part of the laws of
the country.
At the conferences prior to Federation, participants
decided there would be twice as many members of the
House of Representatives as there would be senators.
Members of the House of
Representatives would
represent electorates
(voting areas)
containing
about 30 000
voters.
NT
Population: 198 885
Senators: 2
House of Reps: 2
WA
Population: 1 966 410
Senators: 12
House of Reps: 15
SA
Senators: 12
House of Reps: 11
Source 1.5.2
Membership of the House of
Representatives and Senate, 2004
Vic.
Senators: 12
House of Reps: 37
These members would be chosen or elected by the

votes of Australians to be part of Parliament for three
years. Senators would be elected for six years. In
addition, there would be an equal number of senators
originally six and now twelve elected from each
state, regardless of each states population.
Role of the House of Representatives

In theory, the House of Representatives is more
powerful than the Senate. In the first place, only the
House of Representatives can decide to impose taxation and spend money (that is, introduce money
Bills). Secondly, the government is created by the
political group or groups which have a majority of
politicians in the House of Representatives. If, for
example, the Labor Party has the most members in
the House of Representatives, Labor forms the government and its leader becomes Prime Minister. The
major party or parties with a minority of members in
the House of Representatives is called the Opposition.
The Prime Minister selects some members of
Parliament (from his or her own party) to be other
ministers. These men and women manage different
parts of the governments responsibilities. These
include defence, foreign affairs and Aboriginal
affairs, but the most important minister, after the
Prime Minister, is the Treasurer. The Treasurer is
responsible for raising and spending money. The
Prime Minister and senior ministers meet together
as the Cabinet: it is here that the most important
government decisions are made.
Role of the Senate

The Senate is, however, not without
power. It may refuse to pass Bills sent
to it by the House of Representatives.
If it did this repeatedly, the work of
government would grind to a halt.
To avoid this deadlock, the men
who wrote the Constitution
Qld
decided that if the Senate
Senators: 12
refused to pass a proposed law
House of Reps: 28
from the House of Representatives
twice
in
three
months, then there could
be a double dissolution.
Both houses would be dissolved (or closed) and a
NSW
general election held. After
the election, if the Senate
Senators: 12
House of Reps: 50
again refused to pass
ACT
the Bill or Bills, the
Population: 323 057
two
houses of ParliaSenators: 2
House of Reps: 2
ment
would
meet
together in a joint sitTas.
Population: 480 162
ting and a simple majority
Senators: 12
vote would be taken to
House of Reps: 5
decide the issue.
21
CHANGING AND
INTERPRETING THE
CONSTITUTION
In 1974, the Liberal Party/National Party

Opposition refused to pass legislation presented by Gough Whitlams Labor government (see page 280). Labors legislation was
passed at the joint sitting.
LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT
There are three levels of government in Australia:
federal, state and local. The powers of the new
Commonwealth Government were set out in section
51 of the Constitution, which lists 39 items over
which the Commonwealth Government has
authority to make laws. Items not mentioned in the
list remained the responsibility of the states. Areas
where both Commonwealth and state governments
can make laws are known as concurrent powers.
An example is taxation (see source 1.5.3).
Source 1.5.3
Federal
Taxation
(income tax, company tax, customs and excise duties)
Immigration
Trade
Communication
Aboriginal welfare
Transport
(aviation, shipping)
Section 128 of the Constitution sets out the way the

Constitution can be changed: a referendum must be
held and the Constitution can be changed only if a
majority of voters in a majority of states vote in
favour of the change.
The actual words of the Australian Constitution
have changed very little over 100 years. However, if
some of its original writers came back today, they
would hardly recognise some of the ways in which it
is now applied. Some of the changes that have
taken place relate to:
the ways in which it has been interpreted by the
High Court in response to changing circumstances
the citizenship rights granted to indigenous
Australians after the 1967 referendum
the much greater role played by the Commonwealth Government today, compared with the relatively minor role it had at the start of the century
some changes in wording, as a result of referenda.
It is the role of the High Court to interpret and
apply the Constitution. For example, if there is a
conflict between the Commonwealth Government
and a state government and both make a law on a
certain area, the High Court makes a decision on
who has the right to make the law.
Health
(Medicare, drug control)
Social security
(pensions, unemployment benefits)
Defence
(armed forces)
Antarctica
The Commonwealth Government used its

external affairs powers under section 51,
sub-section 29 of the Constitution, to prevent
the Tasmanian Government from flooding
the Franklin River in 1983 (see page 262). In
a similar way, the Commonwealth Government was able to stop mining on Fraser
Island in Queensland. Under section 51,
sub-section (i), the government refused to
grant permission to export mineral sands so
that the mining company was forced to
abandon its plans to sell minerals overseas.
Development
(national projects)
Education
(universities and colleges, aid to schools)
Foreign affairs
State
Education
(primary and secondary schools, teacher training)
Law and order
Transport (State roads, railways)
Health
(hospitals, nursing services)
Development
(land sales, building projects)
Local
government
Taxation
(State taxes)
Aboriginal
welfare
Housing
Services
(such as electricity)
Environment
protection
FEDERATION AND LINKS TO

BRITAIN
Local
Minor roads
Street lighting
Swimming pools
Parks and sporting ovals
Rubbish collection
Powers of government
Baby health centres
While Federation meant Australians were taking

more responsibility for their own affairs, strong links
with Britain remained. For many years, Britain
retained a very strong influence on Australias:
foreign policy, defence and trade
legal systems
political systems (through the appointment of
British governor-generals).
22
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Links in defence and trade
Both Labor and non-Labor governments in the
early days accepted that, in general, Britain should
determine our foreign policy. When Britain was
finally persuaded to allow Australia to build up its
own navy, this was done on the understanding that
if war broke out, these ships would be placed under
British control. In trade also, Britain was given
special treatment, with lower tariffs than other
countries.
Between 1936, when Isaacs period as GovernorGeneral ended, and 1965, there was only one other
Australian Governor-General: Sir William McKell
(194753). Governor-Generals between 1936 and
1965 included a British baron, two Viscounts, and the
Kings brother, the Duke of Gloucester (194547).
Since 1970 it has been expected that any GovernorGeneral would be an Australian citizen.
A legal link
British businessmen also wanted to retain legal
protection for their businesses in Australia. They
felt secure while the colonies were ruled by Britain
but felt that, after Federation, Australian courts
might make decisions which would not be in their
financial interest. On the insistence of influential
people in Britain, the Constitution stated that,
under certain circumstances, appeals could go from
the High Court of Australia to the Privy Council
in Britain. This right to appeal to the highest court
in Britain has since been removed in stages. Its
final removal did not take place until 1986. From
this point on, the High Court became the highest
court of appeal in Australia.
A political link
Britain also had a great political influence through
the Governor-General, and for more than 20 years
it was taken for granted that the Governor-General
would not be an Australian but would be a British
aristocrat. Until 1926, the Australian Prime
Minister could not speak directly to the British
Government; instead he had to pass messages
through the Governor-General.
In October 1929, the Labor Party under John
Scullin won the election, and in 1931 he recommended to King George V that Sir Isaac Isaacs, a
lawyer, should become the first Australian-born
Governor-General. This was a controversial
decision at the time. The Council of Combined
Empire Societies sent a protest petition to the
British government with 130 000 signatures. Their
main argument was that any Australian GovernorGeneral would have political views favouring one
side or the other, while a British Governor-General
could be more impartial. King George was also very
much against an Australian Governor-General but
felt if he did not agree he would be seen as getting
involved in Australian politics. (This was the same
argument Queen Elizabeth used after the 1975 dismissal of Gough Whitlams Labor government by
the Governor-General, Sir John Kerr. See pages 255
and 282.) King George wrote that he agreed to
accept the choice of the Australian Prime Minister
with great reluctance and that he should think it
would be very unpopular in Australia.

1. What are three ways in which the Constitution helped
protect smaller states from being dominated by a
Commonwealth Government?
2. The House of Representatives plays a much more
important role than the Senate. What are two ways in
which this importance is shown?
3. What is meant by a double dissolution? What events
have to happen before this can take place?
Using sources
1. From source 1.5.1, which branch of our constitutional
system (a) makes the laws, (b) puts the laws into
practice and (c) makes sure that laws are not in
contradiction with the Constitution?
2. Study the map in source 1.5.2, and answer the
following questions.
(a) Copy the following graph into your workbook.
Complete the graph by drawing in the bars for each
state. (New South Wales has been drawn as an
example.)
(b) Write a paragraph describing what the graph shows.
(c) Which states might think this system is unfair? What
reasons might they give?
50
40
Numbers in
30
House of
Representatives 20
10
0
NSW Vic.
Qld
WA
SA
Tas.
ACT
NT
0
Numbers
in
Senate
10
20
3. From source 1.5.3, find three areas where state and

federal responsibilities overlap. In each of these cases,
outline the particular part played by the state
government and by the Commonwealth Government.
Worksheets
1.5 How a law is passed
23
1.6
VOTING RIGHTS: AUSTRALIAN
ABORIGINES AND WOMEN
ABORIGINAL AUSTRALIANS
Source 1.6.1
Before Federation, all Aboriginal Australians were,

in theory, British subjects and in most colonies they
had the right to vote, although only a few were in a
position to take advantage of this. Queensland
removed this right in 1885, followed by Western
Australia in 1893.
Aboriginal people were dispossessed of their land
and increasingly marginalised through colonial
government policies during the 1800s. Their rights
did not play a large part in the debates leading up
to Federation, but two limitations were placed on
Aboriginal people in the Constitution. These did not
seem significant at the time but, by the 1960s (see
page 190), there was pressure to change these:
1. One mention of Aborigines was in Article 51 of
the Constitution. Subsection 26 gave the Federal
Parliament power to make laws for the people of
any race, other than the Aboriginal race in any
state, for whom it is deemed necessary to make
special laws. The effect of this was to prevent
the Commonwealth Government making laws to
benefit Aboriginal people. The colonies argued
that they did not want the Commonwealth
Government to interfere in their Aboriginal
policy making.
2. A second mention of Aboriginal Australians was
in the section describing the census. Here the
Constitution stated: In reckoning the numbers of
people in the Commonwealth, or of a state or other
part of the Commonwealth, Aboriginal natives
should not be counted. The larger states did not
want the smaller states swelling their numbers by
including their Aboriginal population, while the
smaller states did not want Aborigines included
in calculations for taxes they had to pay.
The question of franchise (including voting
rights) for Aborigines was more complicated. At the
time of Federation, all those who had voting rights
in state elections also had voting rights in the federal election, so women in South Australia and
Western Australia and Aborigines in states like
New South Wales and Victoria had the right to
vote. However, many of these rights for Aborigines
were taken away as a result of the first Commonwealth Franchise Act of 1902 and further restrictions were placed on Aborigines right to vote in
1922 when Commonwealth and state electoral rolls
were standardised.
A cartoon by
Phil May in the
Bulletin in
1888, titled
A curiosity in
her own
country
Source 1.6.2
Aboriginal voting rights in Victoria were removed in 1904,
as described in this advice from the Attorney-General.
It appears that certain aboriginal natives in Australia
enrolled at the mission station, in the Riverina electorate,
were struck off the state Electoral Rolls by a State Revisions
Court held in February last; but their names still remain on
the Commonwealth Rolls.
The Secretary, Department of Home Affairs, asks for
advice whether they are entitled to vote at the by-election
now pending.
The State qualification has since ceased; and consequently
these aboriginals would not now be entitled to have their
names placed on an Electoral Roll (Commonwealth
Franchise Act, 1902, section 4). Their names can therefore
. . . be removed from the Roll at a Revision Court; but until
their names are so removed they are entitled to vote . . .
Attorney-Generals Department to the Chief Electoral Officer,
23 April 1904, 04/3022, National Archives of Australia.
THE VOTE FOR WOMEN

In 1894, women in South Australia were granted
suffrage, which means the right to vote in that
colonys elections. This was one of the first
instances anywhere in the world of women winning
24
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voting rights. The success in South Australia
strengthened the resolve of women in the other colonies to push for the same rights. Individuals began
to emerge who were prepared to take direct action.
For example, Louisa Lawson, mother of the poet
Henry Lawson, established the Dawn Club in 1888
to campaign for womens suffrage. From the 1890s,
more womens groups were formed and campaigned
strongly through demonstrations, petitions and
literature. The Womanhood Suffrage League of New
South Wales, led by Maybanke Wolstoneholme and
Rose Scott, petitioned those who attended the 1897
Federal Convention to address womens voting
rights. Magazines such as Vida Goldsteins
Australian Womans Sphere were published, and
street marches were organised to draw attention to
their cause. Western Australia was the next colony
to grant women the vote in 1899.
The question of giving a vote to women had to be
faced by the writers of the Constitution. It was
decided that only (white) women living in states
that had already granted female suffrage in state
elections (South Australia and Western Australia)
would be entitled to vote in federal elections.
Women in the other states were not happy about
this and lobbied strongly for uniform treatment.
One of the first Bills of the new Commonwealth
Government was a franchise Bill to give all women
a vote in federal elections. This was passed in 1902.
Gradually this right was extended to state elections.
Victoria was the last to achieve this in 1908.
La Trobe Collection, State Library of Victoria
Source 1.6.4
An illustration that appeared on the cover of the second issue

of the Australian Womans Sphere, October 1900
Source 1.6.3
Extracts from a petition sent to the Federal Convention from
the members of the Womanhood Suffrage League
of New South Wales, 23 March 1897
The humble petition of . . . the Womanhood Suffrage League of
New South Wales respectfully showeth: . . .
2. That at the present time in New South Wales, Victoria,
Western Australia and Tasmania women do not possess the
right to vote for . . . members of the parliament of the said
colonies, whilst in respect of South Australia such right has
been conferred upon the women of that colony and that
therefore the women of the colonies first mentioned are
under a disability from which the women of South Australia
have been relieved.
3. That (as the Honorable George Reid, Premier of New South
Wales, has said) . . . in this matter the taxpayers have much
more at stake than the politicians and that the women of the
various colonies are taxpayers . . . and will be taxpayers
under any federal government which may be established.
4. That women are patriotic and law-abiding citizens taking an
equal part in the religious and moral development of the
people and doing more than half of the educational and
charitable and philanthropic work of society as at present
constituted that therefore whatever federal franchise
shall be . . . possessed by male citizens should also be . . .
possessed by women . . .
National Archives of Australia.

1. What were three ways the new federal Constitution
reduced the rights of Aboriginal Australians?
2. Which colony first gave the vote to women?
3. How did women draw attention to their cause?
Using sources
1. Why is the Aboriginal woman in source 1.6.1 a
curiosity to the city people in the cartoon?
2. Read source 1.6.2 and explain why Aboriginal
Australians were originally on the Commonwealth
Electoral Roll and why their names were taken off.
3. Read source 1.6.3 and list the womens reasons for
wanting the right to vote.
4. What argument is put forward in the illustration on the
cover of the Australian Womans Sphere (source 1.6.4)
for giving the vote to women?
Worksheets
1.6 Votes for women
25
1.7
AUSTRALIAS POPULATION AND
RACIAL ISSUES AROUND 1900
Australia in 1900 was a predominantly AngloCeltic country. Around 17 per cent of the population were British-born. Of the non-indigenous
population, 75 per cent were born in Australia, and
most of these had parents or grandparents who had
come out from Britain (see source 1.7.1).
Source 1.7.2
Source 1.7.1
Composition of Australias population in 1901
Place of birth
Australia (indigenous)
2.4
2 913 997
75.2
364 448
185 807
102 907
12 792
665 954
9.4
4.8
2.7
0.3
17.2
Germany
38 552
1.0
China
29 907
0.8
New Zealand
25 881
0.7
105 510
2.7
3 874 365
100.0
Great Britain
England
Ireland
Scotland
Wales
Great Britain total
Other2
Total
Percentage
94 564
Australia (non-indigenous)1
Number
A 1902 photograph of European Australians at Manly,

New South Wales, in one of the first European cars,
a Peugeot Bebe
THE CHINESE IN THE

COLONIES
Most non-indigenous Australian-born people had British-born

parents or grandparents.
Other included other Europeans, such as Italians, people
from the United States, the Middle East and Asia, including
approximately 4500 Indians, 3500 Syrians and 1800 Japanese.
The Irish were distinguished from other

British colonists by their Catholic religion
and their struggle against English rule.
The two largest non-British groups were the Germans and Chinese. The Germans had settled mainly
in the wine-growing region of the Barossa Valley in
South Australia and in the agricultural region of the
Darling Downs in south-eastern Queensland. The
Chinese settled mainly in New South Wales,
Queensland and the Northern Territory.
The Chinese were some of the first non-white

immigrants to Australia in the 1800s. As the
supply of convicts from Britain dwindled, the rich
pastoralists sought to employ cheap labour from
elsewhere. At that time, colonial governments were
still controlled by Britain and there were no
restrictions on who could come to the colonies. The
pastoralists looked to Asia and brought in many
Chinese people to work as farm labourers and
shepherds. By 1850, there were about 2000 Chinese
in Australia.
After 1850, large numbers of Chinese people
arrived to work on the goldfields. They were hardworking and well organised. However, the attitudes
of other miners towards them became increasingly
resentful and suspicious and Chinese people were
often treated badly. There were few attempts to
understand or tolerate the Chinese customs and
culture. There were many physical attacks on the
Chinese workers. Some historians believe this was
due partly to racist influences that came to Australia
from the American goldfields.
26
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Victoria, mine managers tried to bring in Chinese
workers to replace striking miners. A crowd of over
1000 miners and their families attacked the coaches
carrying the Chinese workers. The miners then
pulled down the building in which the Chinese were
to live. When the ASN shipping line decided to
replace the European workforce with Chinese
workers, there were strikes and protests. The company had to back down. The European workers
believed that they should be given the jobs because
they said Australia was their home, whereas the
Chinese were in the colonies for only a short time.
Source 1.7.3
Quong Tart
The Mongolian Octopus his grip on Australia, a cartoon

by Phil May in the Bulletin, 1886
By 1861, there were about 40 000 Chinese in

Australia. As alluvial gold declined, many Chinese
returned home, but numbers increased again in
1875 with the discovery of gold on the Palmer River
in northern Queensland.
Conflict in the cities

In the 1870s, employers who wanted to make more
profits used Chinese workers as part of their
attempts to force European workers to accept
reduced wages and conditions. In 1873, at Clunes in
Although there was opposition to Chinese migration,

many Chinese people established businesses and
became accepted and highly respected by the
European community in the nineteenth century. An
example was Quong Tart.
Born in 1850 in China, Quong Tart moved to
Australia when he was nine. He worked on the
goldfields as an interpreter for a rich European
family. Quong Tart became wealthy after being
given a property to manage, where he employed
200 Chinese and Europeans. In 1871, he became
naturalised. He moved to Sydney and established
himself as a tea and silk trader with the support of
the Premier of New South Wales.
Quong Tart married a European woman and had
six children. In 1902, he was attacked at his business in Queen Victoria Markets and died in 1903.
Quong Tarts funeral was one of the largest ever
seen in Sydney.
Source 1.7.5
Source 1.7.4
A cartoon from the Bulletin in 1890 expressing a view of the

effect of employing Chinese workers
A photograph showing Quong Tart at his home in Sydney,

around 1890
27
THE KANAKAS IN QUEENSLAND

In the 1800s, many Pacific Islanders from the area
known as Melanesia were brought to Australia as
cheap labour, mainly for work in the sugarcane
plantations of northern Queensland. These people
were given the derogatory term Kanakas, which
was the Hawaiian term for man. At first, the
islanders were forced to come to Australia in a process known as blackbirding. They were kidnapped
from their homes, brought to Australia, forced to
sign a contract to work for at least three years and
were then sold to plantation owners as slaves.
Blackbirding first took place in 1847 when a
group of 140 islanders was taken from the New
Hebrides and brought to the canefields.
Source 1.7.6
Source 1.7.7
A description of the way many Kanakas were captured and
brought to Queensland
Brutal and mean methods of capture were used. Natives
were encouraged, for instance, to come to the recruiting
vessel to trade, and after they had, unsuspecting, come on
deck, were overpowered and taken below, the hatches
being put on to prevent their escape. Sometimes their
canoes would be run down, and as many as possible of
the struggling natives picked up and clapped below the
hatches; or perhaps their boats would be upset by
something heavy being thrown into them when they
reached the side of the ship . . .
M. Willard, History of the White Australia Policy to 1928,
London, 1923; MUP 2nd edn 1967, p. 189.
In 1890, the Kanaka trade was stopped but in

1892 the restriction on bringing Kanakas into
Queensland was removed. By 1898, there were over
8000 in Queensland.
The issue of the Kanakas was an important one in
the Federation debate. Queensland wanted to continue
using islander workers in the canefields but the other
colonies wanted to remove them because of a desire for
a white Australia (discussed on pages 301).
Source 1.7.8
The South Sea Labour Trade

South Sea Island Trader: Now gentlemen, give me a start.
What shall we say for this ere cocoanut and the nigger
thrown in? Five pounds only bid for this cocoanut. Five
pounds; five ony; five did I hear six? No advance; going at
five; gone. Next nigger; I mean next cocoanut.
Many Pacific islanders were poorly treated, as illustrated in
this cartoon by Phil May in the Bulletin, 1886
This cartoon from the Brisbane Worker, 21 November 1896,

suggests that the Queensland Government wanted to pursue
its own way of life at the expense of Federation. It shows the
Queensland cabinet being waited on by Kanakas; the Premier,
Nelson, is seated in the centre. The original caption reads
Queenslanders are not likely to make stupid sacrifices for the
benefit of selfish politicians and merchants elsewhere in
Australia, when Queensland with tropical conditions would
be at the mercy of communities inexperienced in, and
unsympathetic with, her peculiar interests.
28
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FEAR AND DISTRUST
Fears of non-white immigration into Australia grew
in the 1890s. Japanese divers were brought in to
work in pearl diving in the waters of northern Australia. They had expertise in deep diving in the
days before pressurised diving suits. At the same
time, the British government was trying to establish good relations with Japan and, in 1894, signed
a treaty that gave Japanese immigrants the right
to settle in all British colonies, even if the colonial
government tried to overrule this.
The shortage of work during the 1890s
depression led to further concerns among the European Australians that immigrant labour, particularly from Asia, would take their pay and jobs from
them.
Politicians in federal and state governments from
1901 expressed a range of views on immigration (see
source 1.7.9), but the overwhelming desire was for
racial unity in other words, a White Australia.
Source 1.7.9
Some of the opinions expressed by politicians in parliament
around 1901, during the debates on whether to restrict
immigration
John Watson (Labor member, New South Wales)
As far as I am concerned the objection I have to the mixing
of these coloured people with the white people of Australia
although I admit it is to a large extent tinged with
consideration of an industrial nature lies in the main in
the possibility of racial contamination . . . The question is
whether we would desire that our sisters and brothers should
be married into any of these races to whom we object.
Mr Ronald (Labor member, South Melbourne)

There is something higher and greater than the making of
money to be considered and that is the character, the
morals and health of our children. Let these people come
here and our race will become piebald . . . Let us keep
before us the noble ideal of a white Australia a snow
white Australia if you will. Let it be pure and spotless.
Alfred Deakin, (Liberal Protectionist and Deputy Prime
Minister)
. . . however much we may sacrifice in the way of
immediate monetary gain however much we may retard
the development of the remote and tropical portions of our
territory those sacrifices for the future of Australia are
little, and are, indeed, nothing when compared with a
compensating freedom from the trials, sufferings, and losses
that nearly wrecked the great republic of the west, still left
with the heritage in their midst of a population which, no
matter how splendid it may be in many qualities, is not
being assimilated, and apparently is never to be assimilated
in the nation of which they are politically and nominally a
part . . . The unity of Australia is nothing if it does not imply
a united race. A united race means not only that its

1. The indigenous population in 1788 is estimated to have
been about 300 000. By how much had this changed
in 1901 and why?
2. Why did Chinese immigrants come to Australia:
(a) before 1850
(b) between 1850 and 1880?
3. Why did many employers use Chinese workers?
4. How did European workers respond to the use of
Chinese labour?
5. Why were Pacific Islanders brought to Queensland?
6. What was blackbirding?
Using sources
1. From source 1.7.1 and the text:
(a) what percentage of the population in 1901 was not
Australian-born?
(b) draw a pie graph or column graph of the percentages
data. (You may wish to use a spreadsheet program.)
2. The cartoon in source 1.7.3 blames Asian immigrants
for a range of problems. List the problems and describe
how you think the cartoonist feels about the issue.
3. In source 1.7.4, why is the European worker shown
with his head down?
4. What evidence can you find in source 1.7.5 of
European influences in Quong Tarts family life?
5. Using source 1.7.7, describe some of the methods used
to capture Pacific Islanders.
6. Study the cartoon in source 1.7.8 and explain its
message, in your own words.
7. Using source 1.7.9, draw a mind map to show the
reasons expressed for wanting to restrict non-white
immigration to Australia.
Worksheets
1.7 Social and political cartoons
members can intermix, intermarry and associate without
degradation on either side, but, implies one inspired by the
same ideals, the same general cast of character, tone of
thought, the same constitutional training and traditions . . .
Unity of race is an absolute essential to unity of Australia.
Mr Bruce Smith (Free Trade Party)

Whilst we are professing profound anxiety about the
educational qualifications of people who come to our
shores, the foundation of the Bill is racial prejudice and
the desire . . . that some other races . . . shall not come
here and be a menace to our industrial system . . . the
truth is that we are afraid to come into contact and
competition with a race like the Japanese.
Reproduced in T. Buggy, Race Relations in Colonial Australia,
Nelson, Melbourne, 1982, pp. 1435; Deakins speech quoted in
M. Clark, Sources of Australian History, Oxford University Press,
London, 1971, pp. 4967.
29
1.8
IMMIGRATION AND
A WHITE AUSTRALIA
ARGUMENTS TO RESTRICT
IMMIGRATION
As we saw on pages 269, in the late nineteenth
century, colonial governments looked for ways to
stop non-Europeans from coming to Australia. The
issue became one of the main reasons that the six
colonies agreed to join together as one nation. Historians believe that there were three main reasons
behind the push for laws to restrict immigration.
1. Economic factors. During the 1890s, there was
an economic depression in Australia. Many Europeans lost their jobs or were replaced by
imported workers, mainly from Asia, who would
work for lower wages.
2. Racial attitudes. A common belief among Europeans at the turn of the century was that white
people were superior to other races. There was a
desire to prevent intermarriage between races
and to keep the white race pure.
3. Preservation of democratic freedoms. Australians
genuinely felt at the time that the democratic
structures they had only recently created were
fragile. Even the more tolerant Australians saw
that China was a great civilisation with a long
history, and they felt threatened by it.
Another less quoted reason for the push to
restrict immigration was that people made links
with the experience of Americans in the US Civil
War (186165). Over 600 000 had died in this feud

between two sides in the same nation, and it
seemed to be the direct result of having two races
in the one country and making slaves of one race
(see Deakins view in source 1.7.9, page 29).
In the first elections as an Australian nation in
1901, an issue on which nearly all the candidates
agreed was the need for a White Australia Policy.
The only really organised political party the Labor
Party strongly supported the idea. There were two
other groups, known as Free Traders and Protectionists. Australias first Prime Minister, Edmund Barton,
was a Protectionist; he believed that the government
should look after Australian workers and jobs by stopping cheap labour and cheap imports. Protectionists
also wanted Australian jobs for Australian workers.
IMMIGRATION RESTRICTION
ACT 1901
When the first Australian Federal Parliament met,
the representatives wasted no time in passing two
laws that prevented non-Europeans coming to Australia or made it very difficult for them to do so.
The Immigration Restriction Act was introduced
on 5 June 1901 and became law on 23 December
of that year. The Act remained in force until 1958.
The Pacific Island Labourers Act became law on
17 December 1901.
Source 1.8.1
An extract from the Immigration Restriction Act of December 1901
AN ACT TO PLACE CERTAIN RESTRICTIONS ON IMMIGRATION AND TO PROVIDE FOR THE REMOVAL FROM THE
COMMONWEALTH OF PROHIBITED IMMIGRANTS
Be it enacted by the Kings Most Excellent Majesty the
Senate and the House of Representatives of the
Commonwealth of Australia as follows:
1. This Act may be cited as the Immigration Restriction Act
1901 . . .
3. The immigration into the Commonwealth of the persons
described in any of the following paragraphs of this
section (herein-after called prohibited immigrants) is
prohibited, namely:
(a) Any person who when asked to do so in front of
an officer fails to write out at dictation and sign in
the presence of the officer a passage of fifty words
in length in a European language directed by the
officer;
(b) any person likely in the opinion of the Minister or of

an officer to become a charge upon the public or
upon any public or charitable institution;
(c) any idiot or insane person;
(d) any person suffering an infectious or contagious
disease of a loathsome or dangerous character;
(e) any person who has within three years been convicted
of an offence, not being a mere political offence, and
has been sentenced to imprisonment for one year or
longer therefore, and has not received a pardon;
(f) any prostitute or person living on the prostitution of
others;
(g) any persons under a contract or agreement to perform
manual labour within the Commonwealth . . .
30
RETROactive 2

The dictation test
Source 1.8.4
One of the measures introduced under the Immigration Restriction Act was a dictation test for migrants.
The official reason given for its use was to ensure
that migrants had a suitable level of education. Only
those who passed the test were allowed to stay.
However, not all migrants were given the test only
those whom the immigration officer considered
unsuitable. The migrant had to write down a passage of 50 words that were spoken by the officer.
However, the passage could be dictated in any
European language, so the officer could give the test
in a language that the migrant did not know.
This cartoon from

1 March 1902
shows how the
Bulletin saw
Britains attitude
to the White
Australia policy.
Source 1.8.2
A typical dictation test. This one was used in Western
Australia in 1908.
Very many considerations lead to the conclusion that
life began on sea, first in single cells, then as groups of
cells held together by a secretion of mucilage, then as
filament and tissues. For a very long time low-grade
marine organisms are simply hollow cylinders, through
which salt water streams.
THE MOTHERLANDS MISALLIANCE

LONDON, 12th February.The Foreign Office has announced the conclusion
of a treaty of alliance between Great Britain and Japan.
BRITANNIA: NOW, MY GOOD LITTLE SON, IVE GOT MARRIED AGAIN;
THIS IS YOUR NEW FATHER. YOU MUST BE VERY FOND OF HIM.
Reproduced in T. Buggy, Race Relations in Colonial Australia,

Thomas Nelson, Melbourne, 1982, p. 87.
Australias
restrictions
on
non-European
migration upset other countries. Japan objected
strongly to the dictation test. The Japanese believed
that they were superior to other Asians and should
be treated differently. Britain wanted to be on
friendly terms with Japan at this time and pressured
Australia to change the method of restricting
migrants. A change was made to the Immigration
Restriction Act in 1905, which stated that the
dictation test could be given in any prescribed
language. It had little effect. If a person trying to
enter Australia was non-white or unsuitable, they
were tested in a language they probably did not know.
Source 1.8.3
Extract from a letter to Australias Prime Minister from
Japans consul in Australia, Mr Eitake, around 1901
The Japanese belong to an Empire whose standard of
civilisation is so much higher than that of Kanakas,
Negroes, Pacific Islanders, Indians and other eastern
peoples that to refer to them in the same terms must be
regarded as an insult.
higher wages and give in to Australian workers

demands for improved conditions.
Overseas countries also complained that the language test was being used too often and it was felt
that Australia was opposing the migration of even
some British subjects. Australias public image in
Britain declined and there was a growing feeling
that the Labor Party had too much influence.

1. Which two laws passed in 1901 prevented nonEuropeans coming into Australia? Which groups were
the two laws directed against?
2. What were two reasons the Japanese had for opposing
the Immigration Restriction Act?
3. What was the effect on Australias relationship with Britain?
Using sources
Quoted in T. Buggy, Race Relations in Colonial Australia,

Thomas Nelson, Melbourne, 1982, p. 149.
As a result of the Immigration Restriction Act,

the number of new migrants coming to Australia
slowed. This upset most employers who were
unable to use cheap labour and now had to pay
1. In source 1.8.2, what is the reason for including the

dictation test among other restrictions on immigration?
2. Working with a partner, try the dictation test (source
1.8.2). Would this have been simple or challenging for
a person from an Asian country?
3. In source 1.8.3, why might people say that Mr Eitake is
also racist?
4. Identify which countries are represented by the figures
in source 1.8.4. Why is Australia shown as a young
child? What does the cartoonist suggest about the
relationship with these overseas countries?
31
1.9
SOCIAL LEGISLATION:
A HELPING HAND
As we saw on pages 1415, in the late 1890s and
early 1900s, it was commonly stated that Australia
was a working mans paradise. In many skilled
trades, such as stonemasonry, engineering and
printing, workers had achieved an eight-hour day.
Most workers still worked six days a week,
although some had Saturday afternoon off.
Source 1.9.1
A photograph of workers in a printers office, around 1900
During its first 14 years from 1901, the Commonwealth Government introduced some of the most
progressive industrial and social legislation in the
world at that time. The reforms were of great benefit to ordinary working-class Australian men and
women, although indigenous Australians were
generally excluded from most of these reforms.
CONCILIATION AND
ARBITRATION COURT
The Conciliation and Arbitration Court was very
much an Australian initiative. Established in 1904,
its aim was to settle disagreements between
employers and trade unions by acting as a referee
and coming up with an agreement on work issues
and conditions that would be fair to both sides.
Only trade unions could deal with the Conciliation and Arbitration Court on behalf of workers
and, as a result, there was a great increase in trade
union membership between 1906 and 1914. Originally, decisions of the court applied only to national
disputes between workers and bosses in more than
one state but, by 1914, disputes within only one
state could be resolved if the workers were part of
an Australia-wide union.
HARVESTER CASE
Since 1904, wages were supposed to be fair and
reasonable but there was no clear definition of what
this meant. In 1907, the Conciliation and Arbitration Court made an important decision in the case
Ex parte H. V. McKay (1907), better known as the
Harvester Case. (The name derived from the fact
that the company that featured in the court case,
H. V. McKay, was a manufacturer of agricultural
machinery, including the Sunshine Harvester.)
The court president, Justice Higgins, established
the idea of a living or basic wage. He ruled that a
fair and reasonable wage for an unskilled man was
the equivalent of roughly $4.20 a week. He based
this on the normal needs of the average employee,
regarded as a human being living in a civilised
community. This basic wage was the minimum
amount any male worker could expect to be paid to
support a wife and three children. (The basic wage
varied from state to state, as Justice Higginss
decision applied only to Commonwealth workers.)
Justice Higgins believed that the needs of the
worker were more important than the bosss ability
to pay and this strengthened the opinion that
Australia was a working mans paradise.
Workers Compensation Act 1912

Workers compensation was a scheme to provide
payments to Commonwealth employees who suffered a work-related accident or disease. Although it
did not apply to most workers under state awards,
it provided a model that could be introduced by
states.
AGED AND INVALID PENSIONS

The introduction of aged pensions in 1909 was
another Australian innovation, and was based on
legislation that existed in New South Wales and
Victoria before Federation. A pension of around
$52 per year (just under quarter of the basic wage)
was introduced for Australian-born citizens and
naturalised British citizens aged over 65 and resident for 20 years. A similar pension was provided for
people whose disabilities prevented them working.
However, some people were specifically excluded
from receiving the pension. These were indigenous
Australians, indigenous people from Africa and the
Pacific Islands and Asian people.
32
RETROactive 2

Source 1.9.3
BABY BONUS
Under the Maternity Allowances Act 1912, a baby
bonus was introduced that gave every mother 5
(equivalent to around $10.00, or more than two
weeks pay at that time) on the birth of a child.
The opinion of the Adelaide Advertiser in 1902 on the

advantages that workers in Australia had over those working
overseas
According to the most trustworthy authorities, the position of
the people in this land compares most favourably with that of
any part of the worlds population. Though the average duration
of toil is relatively low, its product as expressed in the necessaries and comforts of life is high, and this speaks well for the
general condition. Mr Coghlan has calculated that in Australia
the cost of living is 36/19/5 for each inhabitant per annum . . .
tables . . . show that the ratio here is not only far above the
general average, but from 12 to 25 per cent higher than that of
the English-speaking world. The expenditure of the kind
described is 32/16/2 per head in the United States, 29/14/9
in Great Britain, and 23/6/2 in Canada. The fact that Australians spend more money on themselves and their families than
any other civilised people is itself a proof that they have more
money to spend, and the influence deducible from it as to their
general well-being is amply sustained by a glance at the other
end of the scale. Russia stands lowest with an expenditure of
10/1/11 per head, but Portugal with 11/5/6 and Italy with
11/11/- are not very far off . . . The Australian workman has
substantial reason for glorying in the fact that while working
fewer hours per week than is the rule in the old world, he
nevertheless has more money at his disposal, and is able to
secure for himself and those belonging to him a larger share of
the good things of life.
Source 1.9.2
Prime Minister Andrew Fisher gives his justification for the
Baby Bonus in 1912
When this Bill becomes law a woman will know, and
everybody acquainted with her will know, that there
is 5 awaiting her . . . The butcher, the baker, the
tinker, the tailor, the medical man, and others, will
all remember that there is 5 about, and although
the money is not in their hands, the credit will be
good . . . That this proposal will relieve misery, I have
not a shadow of a doubt. It will also save lives . . .
It will bring comfort to those to whom it is intended
to bring comfort generally, and it will benefit the
nation.
A WORKERS PARADISE?
Australian workers were, in many ways, considered
much better off than those in other parts of the
world. Shorter working hours, the basic wage,
increased leisure time, aged and invalid pensions,
basic workers compensation and maternity allowances all helped create the idea that Australian
workers were well looked after. Australians also ate
better food than many people in other countries and
worked fewer days to pay for their food. Today, we
take for granted many of those reforms that were
first introduced by the early federal governments
from 1901 to 1914.

1. What gains in working hours had some skilled
tradesmen made by 1900?
2. What were the functions of the Conciliation and
Arbitration Court?
3. In 1907 the Conciliation and Arbitration Court decided
on a basic wage for working men.
(a) What court case brought about the decision?
(b) How much was the wage to be?
(c) Who was it supposed to be able to support?
4. Who was eligible to receive an aged pension? Who
was ineligible?
Adelaide Advertiser, 1 September 1902.
5. What was the reason for introducing a baby bonus?

6. Why did some people refer to Australia as a working
mans paradise?
Using sources
1. Study the photograph of the printers in source 1.9.1
and make up names and identities for each of the men.
Using the information in the text on benefits for
workers and families, describe the pay and social
benefits that could be due to each of them in the next
10 years.
2. In source 1.9.2, what does Prime Minister Fisher see as
the benefits of the Baby Bonus?
3. Why does the writer of source 1.9.3 believe that
Australian workers were treated better than those in
other countries?

Choose an overseas country and, using desktop
publishing, write a 250-word report on the working
conditions of people living there in the first decade of the
1900s. Mention any benefits provided by governments for
the workers. Include at least one document and one visual
source.
Worksheets
1.8 Crossword: Federations first decade
33
Review & exam practice

S CHOOL C ERT IFICAT E
Australia,
P RAC TI C E
19001914
(D) To ensure that all immigrants had a high degree

of education
6. Consider the following statements about
Federation.
Statement X: Australia would be better able to
defend itself.
Statement Y: The removal of tariffs between states
would ensure a free trade and lower costs.
(A) Both statements are true.
(B) Both statements are false.
(C) Statement X is true and statement Y is false.
(D) Statement X is false and statement Y is true.
7. Which of the following statements describes why
Australia was considered a working mans
paradise by 1914?
(A) Wages and hours worked were considered
better than those in most other countries.
(B) Australia did not have social classes.
(C) Australians worked harder than people in other
countries.
(D) All people were happy with the working
conditions in Australia.
8. Which of the following social welfare measures
was introduced by the courts rather than by
parliament?
(A) A basic or minimum wage
(B) A maternity allowance or baby bonus
(C) Pensions for the elderly
(D) Unemployment benefits
Multiple choice
Choose the letter that provides the most correct
answer.
1. What had the strongest effect on Australias
economy in the 1890s?
(A) New discoveries of gold
(B) A sudden growth in investment
(C) An economic depression
(D) Above average rainfall
2. Which of the following statements best describes
the changes in voting rights brought about by
Federation?
(A) Women had no voting rights in any states
before Federation but gained the vote after
Federation.
(B) No Aboriginal Australians had votes before or
after Federation.
(C) Most Aboriginal Australians who had votes
before Federation now lost it.
(D) Both Aboriginal Australians and women gained
the vote in Federation.
3. Refer to the cartoon in source 1.6.1 (page 24).
Which statement best expresses the point the
cartoonist is trying to make?
(A) Most Europeans were ignorant about Aboriginal
culture and their relationship to the land.
(B) Aboriginal mothers cared for their children in
just the same way European mothers did.
(C) Europeans looked down on Aboriginal people.
(D) Aboriginal people chose to live on the streets.
4. What is the purpose of referendums in the
Australian Constitution?
(A) To give people the chance to say what they
think of the government between elections
(B) To allow changes to be made to the
Constitution
(C) To resolve deadlocks between the House of
Representatives and the Senate
(D) To allow changes in electoral boundaries as
population changes
5. Which one of the following was not a reason for
the dictation test in the Immigration Restriction Act
of 1901?
(A) To stop non-Europeans from coming to
Australia
(B) To avoid offending allies of Britain such as
Japan
(C) To give the Commonwealth Government
absolute power over who came to Australia
Questions 9 and 10 refer to source 1.7.1 (page 26).

9. Using the table of population figures, which of the
following conclusions about birthplace would be
false?
(A) Most people born overseas came from England.
(B) Apart from Britain, the country from which
most immigrants came was Germany.
(C) Chinese people born overseas made up less
than one per cent of the population in 1901.
(D) There were more immigrants born in Scotland
than in Ireland.
10. Using the table of population figures and your own
knowledge, which of the following statements is
true?
(A) The proportion of indigenous Australians had
increased since 1901.
(B) Compared with the gold rushes of the 1850s,
by 1901 the proportion of Chinese born
overseas had decreased.
(C) Among British migrants, Catholics
outnumbered Protestants.
(D) Less than five per cent of migrants came from
places other than Britain.
34
RETROactive 2
U S I N G S O U RCE S
Extended response
1. Refer to the two paintings in sources 1.4.3 and 1.4.4
(page 18). Using these sources and your own
knowledge, describe some of the main features of
Australian nationalism as it developed in the second
half of the nineteenth century.
2. Why was Federation in 1901 such a significant event in
Australias history? In your answer you should discuss:
(a) how the different colonies were organised before
Federation
(b) the reasons people had for wanting Federation
(c) the changes brought about in the first 12 years of
Federation.
1. Read source 1.10.1 and list the arguments put

forward by Sir Henry Parkes in favour of Federation.
Source 1.10.1
An extract from a newspaper report on the pro-Federation
speech made by Sir Henry Parkes in October 1889 known
as the Tenterfield Oration
The great question which they now had to consider was
whether the time had not now come for the creation on this
Australian continent of an Australian government . . . to preserve the security and integrity of these colonies the whole
of their forces should be amalgamated into one great federal
army . . . They had now, from South Australia to Queensland,
a stretch of about 2000 miles of railway, and if the four colonies could only combine to adopt a uniform gauge, it would
mean an immense advantage in the movement of troops.
W HEN DID IT HAP PEN ?

Match up these dates with the correct events below,
then present this as a timeline.
Dates:
1840, 1850, 1851, 1855, 1880, 1889 (2 events), 1891
(2 events), 1898, 18991900, 1901, 1912, 1907, 1931
Events:
Tom Roberts paints A Break Away.
First Australian-born Governor-General is inaugurated.
Transportation of convicts to New South Wales ends.
First referendum is held on question of Federation.
Privy Council rules that Australia was terra nullius and
denies indigenous land rights.
Basic wage is introduced in the Harvester Case.
Bulletin magazine, which promotes Australian
nationalism, is first published.
Gold rushes begin in New South Wales and Victoria.
Baby bonus or maternity allowance is introduced.
Most colonies have responsible government.
Victoria becomes a separate colony from New South
Wales.
Conciliation and Arbitration Court is established.
Second referendum is held on question of Federation.
Immigration Restriction Act is introduced.
Henry Parkes speaks at Tenterfield in favour of Federation.
Sydney Morning Herald, 25 October 1889.
2. Source 1.10.2 shows one of the many Federation

arches that communities around Australia erected in
celebration of the birth of Federation in 1901.
Describe the decorations you can see and what you
think this signified about peoples feelings towards
the event. What events in modern Australia might
prompt this kind of display?
Source 1.10.2
SU R FIN G T HE NET
1. Access the Australian Bureau of Statistics website by
going to www.jaconline.com.au/retroactive/
retroactive2 and clicking on the ABS weblink. Use
the search function to find the article Centenary
article a century of population change in
Australia and summarise the information,
comparing Australia in 1901 with Australia today.
2. Access the National Archives of Australia website by
going to www.jaconline.com.au/retroactive/
retroactive2 and clicking on the National Archives
weblink. Go to The collection and then to
Federation. In Federation album, choose one site
and write a half-page report on what it can tell you
about the Federation movement.
A photograph showing one of the many Federation arches

through which the formal procession through Sydney passed
on 1 January 1901. This one was part of the decorations in
Pitt Street and announced France welcomes Australian
Federation.
35

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Two significant symbols of Australias history, the

Rainbow Serpent and the Federation Star, illuminated the

On 1 January 1901, the six British colonies in

Photograph of the Kiosk in Centennial Park during

La Trobe Collection, State Library of Victoria

Anglo-Celtic: describes someone whose ethnic

Theatre poster advertising a play produced in 1909

STREETS AND HOMES OF THE

An extract from Clancy of the Overflow, 1889, by

Australia was very different at the start of the

I am sitting in my dingy little office, where a stingy

View of George Street, Sydney, looking west, c.1890

To cross the streets, people walked through mud,

A drawing from 1886 showing how Darlinghurst in Sydney

In working-class suburbs, poorer people survived

A photograph of children playing outside the Sydney

A photograph of Wexford Street (near the present Campbell

Life could be a constant struggle for working-class

Not all doctors believed in basic procedures such

HEALTH AND HYGIENE

Life-saving antibiotics were not invented

An advertisement for a typical earth closet, which appeared

A new reservoir at Prospect helped to improve

Check your understanding

TIME FOR TECHNOLOGY

Researching and communicating

Wood-burning stoves, such as the one in this advertisement

The first telephones were introduced in Sydney

A photograph of a family picnic, around the turn of the

Music was another home entertainment that was

Gambling was another form of entertainment for all

Gramophones such as this one, advertised around 1900,

ON THE SOCIAL SCENE

A photograph of the crowds of people hoping for a win at

The founder of the Salvation Army, William Booth, writes of

A day at the beach in the late nineteenth century

The besetments of a young nation are very similar to

W. Booth, Social problems in the Antipodes, in Contemporary

LARRIKINS ON THE LOOSE

A photograph of large crowds at Coogee, one of Sydneys

Janet McCalman, Class and respectability in a working-class

Daily Telegraph, 1907.

Check your understanding

1. What evidence is there in source 1.2.1 to support the

Photograph of children dressed in national costumes of the

of peace on earth. It has welded a quarter of the world into one

FACTORIES, SHOPS AND

Etching of 1882, showing a typical clothing factory

60-hour weeks from 7 am to 6 pm and until 2 pm on

Shop assistants usual hours were from 9 am to

Domestic servants such as this Aboriginal woman,

In western New South Wales, pastoralists relied

A graph showing the main occupations in Australia in 1901

THE LABOUR MOVEMENT

A description of working conditions for shearers in 1900

The difficult living and working conditions that the

Worker, Brisbane, 25 August 1900.

Trade unions were originally groups of

Tom Roberts, born Great Britain 1856, arrived in Australia

W. G. Spence, Australias Awakening, Sydney, 1909, pp. 789.

Australian Labor Party

Check your understanding

Victoria, on the other hand, had benefited from