The emergent Commonwealth, 1901-10 : a study and reappraisal of aspects of the development of federal government with some attention to the expectations of the founders and the actual exercise of federal power

Abstract

The Commonwealth of Australia came into being on the first day of the twentieth century. Henceforth, the people of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland,Tasmania, and Western Australia were united in 'one indissoluble Federal Commonwealth under the Crown of the United Kingdom.' The Constitution, the formal document under which the new creation was to operate, empowered the Commonwealth Parliament to legislate on a number of subjects.