Melbourne Conference on Federation

Full description

In the latter half of the 19th Century parliamentarians were becoming conscious of the need for Federal arrangements especially in the area of defence. Early in 1889 Sir Henry Parkes had argued the need for a Federal Parliament and Executive and urged that a National Convention for the purpose of devising and reporting upon an adequate scheme of Federal Government be initiated. This led to the Melbourne Conference on Federation, which commenced on 6 February 1890. (Year Book of the Commonwealth of Australia No.1 1901-1907 pp.18-19).