Federation of Australia - Later Constitutional Conventions

Later Constitutional Conventions

The revival of the federal movement stemmed from the growth of federal leagues and nationalist organisations that were committed to federation, like the Australian Natives Association. There were two so-called People's Conventions held in Corowa and Bathurst.

In 1893 John Quick, who had attended the Corowa convention, drew up a bill which became the basis of discussion at the Adelaide Convention (see below) and is considered to have contributed largely to the eventual constitution. Quick with Robert Garran went on to publish The Annotated Constitution of the Australian Commonwealth in 1901, which is widely regarded as one of the most authoritative works on the Australian Constitution.

In 1895 a proposal was accepted by the premiers of the Australian colonies to establish a new Convention by popular vote, with the resulting draft of the constitution being submitted to the electors of each colony in a referendum. The Convention held meetings over the course of a year, beginning first in Adelaide in 1897, later meeting in Sydney, and culminating in Melbourne in March 1898. After the Adelaide meeting, the colonial Parliaments took the opportunity to debate the emerging Bill and to suggest changes. The basic principles discussed in 1891 were adopted, with the addition of the principle of responsible government. There was also a consensus for more democracy in the constitutional structure. It was agreed that the Senate should be chosen by popular vote with the voters in each State acting as one electorate.

A draft bill was drawn up in 1898, and then sent to each colony to be ratified by the electorate. Referendums were held in four of the colonies in June 1898. There were majority votes in all four of them. However, it failed because the "yes" vote total of 80,000 had not been not reached in New South Wales. In June 1899, the referendum was held again in all the colonies except for Western Australia, where the vote was not held until the following year. The majority vote was "yes" in all the colonies.

The Bill as accepted by the colonies went to Britain for ratification by the British Parliament.