Australia's Federation...?

Question

was Federation a democratic process?

Answer 1

In addition to the first answerer, I must say that not everyone was happy about joining the federation.   Western Australia wanted no part at all and had a 60% vote against in its referendum.    They went so far as to send a request to the British government asking that they be a separate country to the rest of Australia.    The British didn't want to deal with two countries and simply refused to answer.  In that event it meant the colony became a part of the federation anyway.   Western Australia has long had issue with Federal Governments in Canberra making choices for the state from a huge distance without taking stock of what is actually happening there.    Over the years there have been a number of referendums concerning succession from the federation.  The most recent was in the 1980's when nearly a third of the vote was for the Yes option.

So yes while the creation of the Federation was democratic after a fashion (and certainly not representative of everyone living here) in the case of WA the results were ignored totally and made a mockery of the democratic process.   Thankfully Australia has changed more than a little since then.

Answer 2

It was democratic to a certain extent but not by today's standards.

There were two referendums (in 1888 and 1898) but indigenous people were excluded from voting, as were most women, the poor and people of Chinese or Indian descent. In  the first which was put to Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania and South Australia, only a small minority of eligible voters participated in the vote

'Race' was a key factor in the ambition for Federation, with the dream of a 'white nation' uppermost in the minds of the federalists. Critics have pointed out that on Federation,  Of those who could vote, very few bothered.

However people felt about it at the time of the referendum in 1898, when the amended Constitution was put to a second round of referendums in 1899 there was great public interest, and pro- and anti-Federation organisations formed in all the colonies. This time the referendums were successful.

By the time the Commonwealth of Australia was inaugurated on 1 January 1901, the Australian people had embraced the idea and turned out in their thousands for celebrations all over the new nation.