Australia Becomes a Commonwealth

Setting the scene

Six British colonies on the Australian continent had built separate railways, tariffs, and militias; federation leagues and the 1898–1900 constitutional conventions produced a federal bargain to defend White Australia immigration policy and coordinate trade.

What happened

The Commonwealth of Australia was founded on January 1, 1901, when Lord Hopetoun swore in Edmund Barton as prime minister in Sydney's Centennial Park, uniting New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, and Tasmania.

Why it still matters

Canberra later became the capital after rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne; federation enabled national statistics, postal unity, and participation in world wars, while ongoing reckoning with Indigenous dispossession challenges the celebratory narrative of 1901.

Background

Canberra later became the capital.