Investigation 4
What were the results of the referendums in Victoria?
In 1898, the people of Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania voted on whether to accept the draft Constitution decided by the 1897–98 Convention. The colonies of Queensland and Western Australia did not go ahead with the vote. For Federation to proceed, all colonies had to achieve a majority ‘yes’ vote. This occurred in Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia. In addition, New South Wales did not achieve a required quota of 80,000 ‘yes’ votes, so the referendum failed in that colony, and Federation could not proceed.
The Premiers of the colonies met in Melbourne from 29 January to 3 February 1899 in an attempt to find common ground and agree to amendments to the draft Australian Constitution. The conference was called the Premiers’ ‘secret’ conference because neither the media nor the public were allowed to attend. This conference finally did resolve the differences between the colonies so that plans for Federation could move forward. The New South Wales Parliament also removed the quota of 80,000 for the 1899 referendum in New South Wales.
Campaigning for Federation began again, and a second round of referendums was held in Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania. Queensland also held its referendum in 1899. Western Australia held its referendum in 1900. The results of these referendums determined that the colonies would become States in the new Commonwealth of Australia.
Your Task
Investigate the 1898 and 1899 Federation referendums in Victoria.
Activities
- Divide the suburban electorates among your classmates. Each take responsibility for working out the percentage of ‘yes’ and ‘no’ votes in their electorate/s for each referendum. Which suburban electorate had the highest ‘yes’ vote in 1898, and which had this distinction in 1899?
- In pairs, examine the total suburban vote for the 1898 and 1899 referendums, and calculate the percentage of ‘yes’ and ‘no’ votes for each referendum. Voting was not compulsory in the referendums. How many more people in the city voted in 1898 than 1899? Were the people in the city more or less in favour of Federation as time went by? Use the results in the table to justify your response.
- Divide the country electorates among your classmates. Have each take responsibility for working out the percentage of ‘yes’ and ‘no’ votes in their electorate/s for each referendum. Which country electorate had the highest ‘yes’ vote in 1898, and which had this distinction in 1899?
- In pairs, calculate the percentage of ‘yes’ and ‘no’ votes for each referendum. Voting was not compulsory in the referendums. How many people in the country voted in the 1898 referendum, and how many voted in 1899? Were the people in the country more or less in favour of Federation as time went by? Use the results in the table to justify your response.
- Compare the results of the total suburban vote to the total country vote for both 1898 and 1899. Identify and list the most significant aspects of the results. How did the vote vary between the two referendums? Did support for Federation change in Victoria between the two referendums?
- Create a class tally board and map of the results of each of the referendums. Shade the map to represent the different percentages of ‘yes’ votes for each locality. Treat the city as one locality on your map of Victoria. Describe any patterns in the ‘yes’ vote that emerge for each map using geographical language.