Reasons For Abolishing Australian Federation

The Federation of Australia was when six separate, self-governing colonies of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, and Western Australia united to establish the Commonwealth of Australia. The federation of Australia was a difficult process as the states could not agree on the final constitution.

At first, the idea of Federation was quite unpopular. Each colony had view themselves as a country and citizens had grown patriotic of their own .

One of the more prominent reasons for why the states should federate was the abolishment of tariffs. Tariffs were taxes people had to pay in order to cross from one state to another, this also applied to goods people brought with them. By abolishing tariffs, people would save time and money as they approached the border, people had to show the border guards any goods they had and pay tariffs for them. Tariffs also created tension between the colonies and smaller states feared that their commerce would be left that the mercy of the larger states. The importance of free trade was vital in order for Australian industries to be able to compete with oversea industries. In 1890, the Victorian government came to a realization that goods produced by other colonies could not be produced at the same cost as imported goods and responded with ‘a policy of protectionism’ which a tariff for importing goods entering VIctoria. This …show more content…
Although the expansion of the railway system in the late 1800s which allowed many remote place to be reached, the railway was still restricted by the fact that each colony had a different rail gauge as when the railway was being built, the colonies were still working independently and so connecting the tracks between colonies was not considered. Without a uniform gauge, people and goods had to change trains at the border of each colony and was very time consuming as well as