The emergence of the Commonwealth Constitution

Abstract

On 13 April 1897, Edmund Barton, the 48-year-old New South Wales delegate to the Adelaide session of the Australasian Federal Convention, rose to his feet. He prayed for the indulgence of the assembled: ‘I am scarcely in a condition to speak to-night’, he told his fellow delegates, ‘because I am suffering from a bronchial cold. I do not wish to delay the Committee, but I feel that this is a question on which I have some right to be heard’. Out of respect to the leader of the Convention, the South Australian John Hannah Gordon withdrew his motion calling for a division and the Convention adjourned at 9.34 p.m. to reconvene at 10.30 the following morning. This ‘providential catarrh’, as Quick and Garran later described it, in all likelihood saved the Australian Federation from yet another misadventure. This incident, like so many others along the road to Centennial Park, was a moment when the emerging Commonwealth stood at a crossroads. Decisions, compromise, procrastination, hard politicking and gentle persuasion were all part of the progression towards Sydney on the first day of January 1901. The story of Federation is one that has been told and scarcely needs repeating. This chapter will however outline some of the events that marked the unification of the six colonies into the new Commonwealth. It will explore the role of critical individuals and controversies that were associated with the federal movement.