Australian Republic

The push for Australian Nationalism was defeated at the Republic referendum of 1999. But debate continues as to weather Australia’s withdrawal from British Imperialism should be finalized.

With the colonisation of Australia in 1788, the British Empire found a foreign land that it could send its unwanted, criminals and thieves who were deported from England to Australia with only military personnel to force them into labor and brutal punishment. That colony by 1881 had become several of great wealth and prosperity. Seven British colonies that were governed by themselves and who sought to unite themselves under a singular flag and constitution (About Australia, p1, Online accessed 29/10/03)

According to Thomas Kenealy and Janet Baker, motivation for Federation in its bluntest form was to show loyalty to the crown, for “National Defence” against invasion from Asia, the elimination of cross border tariffs, and the “Preservation of legal and political ties with mother England” (Baker, p 30, 1994) This shows that even with the Nationalism of Federation in 1901, Australia still had a strong sense of Empire.

Although Federation made Australia a nation, Imperial fervor still reigned. When Australia went to war in 1914,