Corowa Conference of Federation
The Corowa Conference of Federation, held in 1893 in Corowa, New South Wales, played a pivotal role in the movement towards the creation of an independent Australian nation. This gathering was one of two significant People's Conventions aimed at reviving interest in federalism at a time when nationalism was on the rise among native-born Australians. Over the previous decade, many Australians began distancing their identity from British roots, advocating for a unified Commonwealth governed by a federal system.
The conference mobilized support for a constitutional convention by agreeing that delegates should be elected by popular vote, a departure from previous methods. Among the attendees were influential figures like John Quick and Edmund Barton, who later became integral to shaping the federal constitution. The momentum generated at Corowa led to the drafting of a new constitution at a subsequent convention between 1897 and 1898. This culminated in the establishment of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901, with Edmund Barton as the first prime minister. The Corowa Conference is thus recognized as a crucial turning point in the journey towards Australia's nationhood.
Corowa Conference of Federation
The Corowa Conference of Federation, held in the New South Wales town of Corowa in 1893, was one of two so-called People's Conventions held to revive the wavering federalist movement to create an autonomous Australian state. For over a decade leading up to the conference, nationalism had swelled in Australia as an increasing number of native-born residents no longer considered themselves distinctly British, calling for independence and national self-determination. As had happened with other European colonies, nationalists wanted the colonies that made up Australia to create a commonwealth, headed by a federal government of their own choosing. However, the movement repeatedly stalled due to lack of popular support. The Corowa Conference was instrumental in reigniting the fledgling movement and can be credited with leading directly to the formation of Australia as an independent nation-state.
Background
By the 1880s, an increasing number of Australians began calling for independence from Britain and the formation of a united commonwealth governed by a native federal government. As an increasing majority of Australians were native-born, fewer considered themselves ethnically British. Australian identity was routinely celebrated in song and verse, made all the more widespread by new technologies such as the telegraph, which linked the colonies of the vast continent closer together. Proponents of Australian federalism were also greatly inspired by similar movements in other former colonies, such as Canada and the United States.
In 1867, Sir Henry Parkes, colonial secretary for New South Wales, first proposed the foundation of a Federal Council to help govern the affairs of the various South Pacific colonies. After years of resistance, Parkes was finally able to push through his proposal in 1883 as a measure to help prevent German and French encroachment into the region. In 1885, the Imperial Parliament of the United Kingdom enacted the Federal Council of Australasia Act. Originally made up of Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria and the Crown Colonies of Western Australia and Fiji, the council was weakened by a limited scope and the absence of New South Wales. However, it proved an invaluable forum for the exchange of nationalist sentiment and helped galvanise the fledgling federalist movement. Opponents to federalism argued that a central government would weaken the power of individual colonies, and weaken intercolony trade. The US Civil War, which had killed about a million people, was used by some as proof that independence might lead to ruin. Despite this trepidation, several conferences were held, again spurred by Parkes, culminating in the first National Australasian Convention in Sydney in 1891.
The point of the convention was to debate the adoption of an Australian constitution, written by Andrew Clark, the attorney-general of Tasmania, and Samuel Griffith, premier of Queensland. Griffith and Clark's constitution proposed a government modelled on that of the United States, with some inspiration from the parliamentary system of Britain. However, the convention stalled due to debate over the balance of power between the upper and lower houses of the legislature, and the momentum for independence collapsed. In addition, between 1891 and 1893 Australia suffered an economic depression, which diverted the attention of the colonial parliaments from the question of independence.
Towards Federation
By 1891, the town of Corowa, situated on the border between Victoria and New South Wales, was a hotbed for nationalism and support of federalism. Due to the town's location, residents were hit especially hard by tariffs on goods moving between the two colonies. Resentment over the trade taxation had resulted in the formation of several vocal nativist leagues and organisations, including the Australian Natives' Association (ANA), which founded its first New South Wales branch in Corowa. The ANA, formed in 1871 and exclusive to white native-born men, began as a benevolent society, offering coverage for medical and funerary costs, but quickly radicalised behind federalism. The ANA officially committed itself to Australian federation in the 1880s, and was arguably the most important funder and supporter of the 1891 National Australasian Convention. Following the failure of that convention, and encouraged by Victorian politician John Quick, who had helped steer the ANA toward the federation movement, the organisation began to reorganise with the aim of restarting the movement.
In 1892 another leading supporter of federation, New South Wales parliamentarian Edmund Barton, visited Corowa and suggested that a so-called People's Constitutional Convention be held to restart debate on the constitution. Over the next several months activists, funded by the ANA, created several federation leagues, eventually uniting into the Border Federation League. The Border Federation League organised the Corowa Conference, which was held in late 1893. More rally than convention, the conference was attended by seventy-three delegates representing public bodies from New South Wales and Victoria, as well as both Quick and Barton, who each used the event to rally supporters. The Corowa Conference not only succeeded in restarting the call for a constitutional convention, but also agreed that delegates to that convention should be selected by popular vote.
Impact
Encouraged by the Corowa Conference, Quick drafted a bill that became the basis for a new federal constitution, while Barton set out to organise support in Parliament, travelling extensively throughout New South Wales and giving hundreds of speeches on the benefits of Australian independence. As a direct result of the Corowa Conference, a second constitutional convention was held between 1897 and 1898. From that convention came a new draft constitution that was passed the following year, resulting in the formation of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. Edmund Barton served as the new nation's first prime minister.
Bibliography
Hunt, Lyall, editor. Towards Federation: Why Western Australia Joined the Australian Federation in 1901. Royal Western Australian Historical Society, 2000.
La Nauze, John. The Making of the Australian Constitution. Melbourne UP, 1972.
McQueen, Humphrey. A New Britannia. U of Queensland P, 2004.
Neasey, Francis M., and Lawrence J. Neasey. Andrew Inglis Clark. U of Tasmania Law P, 2001.
Quick, John. Historical Introduction to the Annotated Constitution of the Australian Commonwealth. University of Sydney Library, 2000.
K. P.Dawes, MA