Ra2 2e ch01

Two signicant 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 ofcially 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 rst Governor-General, swear in the new Federal Government and Australias rst Prime Minister, Edmund Barton. In the next 14 years, the new Federal Parliament introduced many laws that helped dene the type of society that Australia would be. There were benets 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 Pacic 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
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?
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 identies, 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.
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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 ofcial count of the population, carried out every ve 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 owing 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 nal 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, inuential landholders superannuation: a regular payment into a fund that provides benets 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
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CHAPTER 1: LIVING IN AUSTRALIA 19001914
La Trobe Collection, State Library of Victoria
1.1
TURN OF THE CENTURY ORDINARY AUSTRALIAN LIVES
STREETS AND HOMES OF THE CITIES AND TOWNS
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.
Source 1.1.2
An extract from Clancy of the Overow, 1889, by A. B. (Banjo) Paterson. It conveys the feelings of an ofce-bound worker in the city at the end of the nineteenth century. I am sitting in my dingy little ofce, 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 oating, spreads its foulness over all And in place of lowing cattle, I can hear the endish rattle Of the tramways and the buses making hurry down the street, And the language uninviting of the gutter children ghting, Comes tfully and faintly through the ceaseless tramp of feet. 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 ofce, Clancy, of The Overow.
Source 1.1.1
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 re. 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.
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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.
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.
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.
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 ush 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 signicant 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

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 rst 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 rst, 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 rst long-distance radio transmission in Australia took place in 1905 between Devonport in Tasmania and Queenscliff in Victoria.
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 ndings 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 ofcial investigating the living conditions of working-class people. Prepare ve 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. Worksheets 1.1 Technology timeline
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1.2
THE LIGHTER SIDE OF LIFE FOR RICH AND POOR
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. 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.
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
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
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.
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Source 1.2.2
acceptable to the European establishment. It was difcult 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 nished their jobs. Most men preferred to drink in the men-only public bars; women drank in a separate ladies lounge.
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.
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 signied 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
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.
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.
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Source 1.2.5
The founder of the Salvation Army, William Booth, writes of his concern at some of the activities that were popular in Australia. 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.
W. Booth, Social problems in the Antipodes, in Contemporary Review, London, vol. 61, 1892, pp. 4234.
BEACH RULES
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.
Source 1.2.7
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 ght . . . 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 denite 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.
Janet McCalman, Class and respectability in a working-class suburb: Richmond, Victoria, before the Great War in Memories and Dreams, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1997.
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 gure too prominently. Women are often worse than men, putting on light gauzy material that clings when wet too much to be decent.
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, rst 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 reworks in their backyards or attended community bonres to celebrate. Check your understanding
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 signicant and how did people celebrate it?
Source 1.2.9
Using sources
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 rmly 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. Worksheets 1.2 Play charades
Photograph of children dressed in national costumes of the British Empire, celebrating Empire Day around 1910
Source 1.2.10
An extract from the Sydney Daily Telegraph of 24 May 1905, explaining how it saw the importance of the rst Empire Day
Today will witness the inauguration of a festival unique in the history of the world. For the rst 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 rst thought which todays celebrations awakens is the tremendous inuence 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 ag 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.
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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 benets 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 ve 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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Source 1.3.3
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 prot 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.
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 rst 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.
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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 satised 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 33% 21% 14% 7% 7% 6% 12%
A graph showing the main occupations in Australia in 1901
Source 1.3.5
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, eas, spiders, scorpions, centipedes, snakes, &c., are . . . lthy and insanitary . . . Smoke, dirt and grime . . . adorn the walls of a majority of these lthy dens . . . The shearer and rouseabout does not as a rule prefer lth to cleanliness, or disease to health. It is the grandgrind squatter who saves money by inicting these immoral and insanitary conditions upon his workers. The Factories Act should be applied to these festering lthy 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.
Worker, Brisbane, 25 August 1900.
THE LABOUR MOVEMENT

The difcult 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 rst 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.
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.
W. G. Spence, Australias Awakening, Sydney, 1909, pp. 789.
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
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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 rst 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 rst Labour government anywhere in the world was in Queensland, led by Andrew Dawson in 1899. The worlds rst 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.

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 difculties 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 ve 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 oating towards the sun?
Source 1.3.9
The front cover of the Worker in 1893, expressing its view of Queensland Labour politics
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.
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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. Victoria, on the other hand, had beneted from its rich goldelds and wanted tariffs to protect its manufacturing industries. South Australia took pride in being the only state that had never transported convicts and the rst state in which women had the vote. Queensland brought in Pacic 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 signicant in the push for a federation of the colonies.
135
Source 1.4.1
1826
Aboriginal groups (approx. 600 language groups)
New Holland
New South Wales (claimed by Britain, 1788)
Western Australia 1832
1788
New South Wales
Unexplored by 1800 (a) Before 1788 (approx. 40 000 years) (b) 1788 Van Diemens Land (c) 17881832 Van Diemens Land 1825
New Guinea To S.A. 1863 Western Australia South Queensland Australia New South Wales Victoria (f) 1901 Tasmania Western Australia
1862 1859
Ne w
Western Australia
So
ales hW ut
Queensland 1859 South Australia New South To Wales S.A. 1861 Victoria 1850 Tasmania (re-named 1858)
South Australia 1836
(e) 18501863
(d) 1836
Van Diemens Land
A series of maps showing the stages in the development of the states
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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 unied defence force might be needed. Given the extent of Australias coastline, the colonial governments had always known it would be difcult 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 Pacic islands, and Russian ships were present in the Pacic. 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 inux 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 signicant issue in the case of Queensland, where cheap labour was brought in from the South Pacic 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, rst 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

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 rst ofcial step towards Federation was taken with the decision in 1883 to set up the Federal Council. It was nally 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 nally dissolved in 1899. A second attempt at Federation was sparked in 1889 by Sir Henry Parkes in a speech in the town of Tentereld 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.
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
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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 Grifths, 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.
Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act on 9 July 1900, and the new nation ofcially 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 rst Governor-General and Sir Edmund Barton was sworn in as the nations rst Prime Minister.
Sir Edmund Barton served as Australias rst Prime Minister, 190103.
Source 1.4.6
THE SECOND CONVENTION

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 rst: 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?
Researching and communicating 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
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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) specically 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 Privy Council (Britain) (Appeals abolished in 1986) 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 Governor-General With senior ministers forms Executive Council Executive puts law into effect Queen
A diagram showing the structure of Australias Commonwealth Government as a constitutional monarchy. This follows the Westminster division of power.
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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
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 rst 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 Population: 3 844 405 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 Population: 6 710 408 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.
WA Population: 1 966 410 Senators: 12 House of Reps: 15 SA Population: 1 530 402 Senators: 12 House of Reps: 11
Source 1.5.2
Membership of the House of Representatives and Senate, 2004
Vic. Population: 4 941 398 Senators: 12 House of Reps: 37
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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.
CHANGING AND INTERPRETING THE CONSTITUTION

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 conict 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.
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 Transport (aviation, shipping) Defence (armed forces) Antarctica Trade Aboriginal welfare Communication Health (Medicare, drug control) Development (national projects) Foreign affairs
Social security (pensions, unemployment benefits)
Education (universities and colleges, aid to schools) State
Education (primary and secondary schools, teacher training) Law and order Health (hospitals, nursing services) Local government Housing
Transport (State roads, railways)
Development (land sales, building projects) Aboriginal welfare Environment protection
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.
Taxation (State taxes) Services (such as electricity) Local
FEDERATION AND LINKS TO BRITAIN

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 inuence on Australias: foreign policy, defence and trade legal systems political systems (through the appointment of British governor-generals).
Minor roads Swimming pools
Street lighting Parks and sporting ovals
Rubbish collection
Powers of government
Baby health centres
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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 nally 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 nancial interest. On the insistence of inuential 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 nal removal did not take place until 1986. From this point on, the High Court became the highest court of appeal in Australia. Check your understanding
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
A political link
Britain also had a great political inuence 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 rst 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.
0 Numbers in Senate 10 20
3. From source 1.5.3, nd 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
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 signicant 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 benet 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 rst 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.
Source 1.6.1
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 qualication 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 Ofcer, 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 rst instances anywhere in the world of women winning
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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 rst 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.
Source 1.6.4
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 rst 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.
An illustration that appeared on the cover of the second issue of the Australian Womans Sphere, October 1900

1. What were three ways the new federal Constitution reduced the rights of Aboriginal Australians? 2. Which colony rst 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
La Trobe Collection, State Library of Victoria
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) Australia (non-indigenous)1 Great Britain England Ireland Scotland Wales Great Britain total Germany China New Zealand Other2 Total
1
Number 94 564 2 913 997 364 448 185 807 102 907 12 792 665 954 38 552 29 907 25 881 105 510 3 874 365
Percentage 2.4 75.2 9.4 4.8 2.7 0.3 17.2 1.0 0.8 0.7 2.7 100.0
A 1902 photograph of European Australians at Manly, New South Wales, in one of the rst European cars, a Peugeot Bebe
THE CHINESE IN THE COLONIES

The Chinese were some of the rst 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 goldelds. 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 inuences that came to Australia from the American goldelds.
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.
26
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Source 1.7.3
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.
Quong Tart
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 goldelds 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.
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.
Conict in the cities

In the 1870s, employers who wanted to make more prots used Chinese workers as part of their attempts to force European workers to accept reduced wages and conditions. In 1873, at Clunes in
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 Pacic 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 rst, 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 rst took place in 1847 when a group of 140 islanders was taken from the New Hebrides and brought to the caneelds.
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.
Source 1.7.6
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 caneelds 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; ve ony; ve did I hear six? No advance; going at ve; gone. Next nigger; I mean next cocoanut. Many Pacic 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 sacrices for the benet of selsh 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.
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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. Check your understanding
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 Pacic 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 nd in source 1.7.5 of European inuences in Quong Tarts family life? 5. Using source 1.7.7, describe some of the methods used to capture Pacic 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.
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 sacrice in the way of immediate monetary gain however much we may retard the development of the remote and tropical portions of our territory those sacrices 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
Mr Bruce Smith (Free Trade Party) Whilst we are professing profound anxiety about the educational qualications 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 rst 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 rst 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 rst Australian Federal Parliament met, the representatives wasted no time in passing two laws that prevented non-Europeans coming to Australia or made it very difcult 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 Pacic 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 ofcer fails to write out at dictation and sign in the presence of the ofcer a passage of fty words in length in a European language directed by the ofcer; (b) any person likely in the opinion of the Minister or of an ofcer 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 . . .
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The dictation test
One of the measures introduced under the Immigration Restriction Act was a dictation test for migrants. The ofcial 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 ofcer considered unsuitable. The migrant had to write down a passage of 50 words that were spoken by the ofcer. However, the passage could be dictated in any European language, so the ofcer could give the test in a language that the migrant did not know.
Source 1.8.4
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, rst in single cells, then as groups of cells held together by a secretion of mucilage, then as lament and tissues. For a very long time low-grade marine organisms are simply hollow cylinders, through which salt water streams.
Reproduced in T. Buggy, Race Relations in Colonial Australia, Thomas Nelson, Melbourne, 1982, p. 87.
THE MOTHERLANDS MISALLIANCE LONDON, 12th February.The Foreign Ofce 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.
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.
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 inuence.

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?
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, Pacic Islanders, Indians and other eastern peoples that to refer to them in the same terms must be regarded as an insult.
Quoted in T. Buggy, Race Relations in Colonial Australia, Thomas Nelson, Melbourne, 1982, p. 149.
Using sources
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 gures 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?
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
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.
HARVESTER CASE
Since 1904, wages were supposed to be fair and reasonable but there was no clear denition 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.
Source 1.9.1
A photograph of workers in a printers ofce, around 1900
During its rst 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 benet to ordinary working-class Australian men and women, although indigenous Australians were generally excluded from most of these reforms.
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.
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.
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 specically excluded from receiving the pension. These were indigenous Australians, indigenous people from Africa and the Pacic Islands and Asian people.
32
RETROactive 2

BABY BONUS
Under the Maternity Allowances Act 1904, a maternity allowance was brought in during the brief prime ministership of John Watson, the rst Labor Prime Minister (April to August 1904). This gave every mother 5 (equivalent to around $10.00, or more than two weeks pay at that time) on the birth of a child.
Source 1.9.3
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 inuence 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.
Adelaide Advertiser, 1 September 1902.
Source 1.9.2
Prime Minister John Watson gives his justication for the Baby Bonus in 1904 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 benet 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 rst introduced by the early federal governments from 1901 to 1914.
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 benets for workers and families, describe the pay and social benets that could be due to each of them in the next 10 years. 2. In source 1.9.2, what does Prime Minister Watson see as the benets 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?

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?
Researching and communicating

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

S CHOOL C ERT IFICAT E Australia, P RAC TI C E 19001914
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 (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 benets Questions 9 and 10 refer to source 1.7.1 (page 26). 9. Using the table of population gures, 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 gures 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 ve per cent of migrants came from places other than Britain.
34
RETROactive 2
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 signicant 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 rst 12 years of Federation.
U S I N G S O U RCE S
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 Tentereld 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.
Sydney Morning Herald, 25 October 1889.
WHE N DID IT HAPP EN?

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, 1904, 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 rst 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 Tentereld in favour of Federation.
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 signied about peoples feelings towards the event. What events in modern Australia might prompt this kind of display?
Source 1.10.2
SUR FI N G THE 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 nd 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.
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Two signicant symbols of Australias history, the Rainbow Serpent and the Federation Star, illuminated the Sydney

Theatre poster advertising a play produced in 1909

La Trobe Collection, State Library of Victoria

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

HEALTH AND HYGIENE

Check your understanding

TIME FOR TECHNOLOGY

Researching and communicating

ROLL ON THE WEEKEND

ON THE SOCIAL SCENE

LARRIKINS ON THE LOOSE

A photograph of large crowds at Coogee, one of Sydneys beaches, in 1909

FACTORIES, SHOPS AND LABOURERS

Etching of 1882, showing a typical clothing factory

A graph showing the main occupations in Australia in 1901

THE LABOUR MOVEMENT

Australian Labor Party

Check your understanding

ARGUMENTS FOR CHANGE

Aboriginal groups (approx. 600 language groups)

New South Wales (claimed by Britain, 1788)

Western Australia 1832

New South Wales

South Australia 1836

Van Diemens Land

A series of maps showing the stages in the development of the states

EARLY EFFORTS: PARKES AND GRIFFITHS

THE SECOND CONVENTION

Check your understanding

Researching and communicating 1. If possible, view the video Federation: a Three-Part

CIVICS AND CITIZENSHIP FOCUS

Role of the House of Representatives

Role of the Senate

Vic. Population: 4 941 398 Senators: 12 House of Reps: 37

CHANGING AND INTERPRETING THE CONSTITUTION

Social security (pensions, unemployment benefits)

Education (universities and colleges, aid to schools) State

Development (land sales, building projects) Aboriginal welfare Environment protection

Taxation (State taxes) Services (such as electricity) Local

FEDERATION AND LINKS TO BRITAIN

Minor roads Swimming pools

Street lighting Parks and sporting ovals

Baby health centres

CIVICS AND CITIZENSHIP FOCUS

THE VOTE FOR WOMEN

CIVICS AND CITIZENSHIP FOCUS

Check your understanding

La Trobe Collection, State Library of Victoria

THE CHINESE IN THE COLONIES

CIVICS AND CITIZENSHIP FOCUS

Conict in the cities

A photograph showing Quong Tart at his home in Sydney, around 1890

THE KANAKAS IN QUEENSLAND

CIVICS AND CITIZENSHIP FOCUS

IMMIGRATION RESTRICTION ACT 1901

CIVICS AND CITIZENSHIP FOCUS

Check your understanding

A photograph of workers in a printers ofce, around 1900

Workers Compensation Act 1912

CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION COURT

AGED AND INVALID PENSIONS

CIVICS AND CITIZENSHIP FOCUS