Defining Moments: Tenterfield Oration
24 October 1889: Henry Parkes makes a landmark speech on the Australian colonies’ need to federate as one nation.
HENRY PARKES AND his family arrived in Sydney in 1839 as impoverished immigrants from England. He soon became politically active, and in 1856 gained a seat in the first New South Wales Legislative Assembly, eventually serving five terms as NSW Premier.
A master of the factional politics that dominated colonial governments before party lines cemented in the early 20th century, Parkes was an early supporter of Federation. He joined the radical NSW Constitution Association in 1848, established The Empire newspaper, which became the voice of republican and federal thinkers, and, at an 1867 intercolonial conference in Melbourne, broached the need for “some federal bond of connection”.
Australia’s colonies initially developed separately, but by the 1880s a move had begun towards economic and social integration. Tariffs levied on goods moving across borders were seen as burdensome and a sense of Australian nationalism was growing. The NSW government led by Parkes passed the Influx of Chinese Restriction Act 1881, leading to an intercolonial conference on a coordinated approach to Asian immigration.
Parkes proposed a federal council to begin unification discussions but Victoria refused to join. In 1883 France and Germany established colonies in the New Hebrides and New Guinea, and Australia’s colonies met to consider a coherent defence. Victoria proposed a formal union, but NSW was against amalgamation led by Victoria, and Federation continued to be impeded by the ideological division between the most populous colonies. Committed to trade protectionism, Victoria advocated tariffs to support industrial growth and employment. NSW supported free trade.
By 1888, 70 per cent of Australia’s inhabitants had been born here and enthusiasm was growing across the British Empire for Federation within self-governing colonies. Canada had become a dominion in 1867 and England saw a similar future for other colonies. Parkes spoke at length on 15 June 1889 with Federation advocate NSW Governor Lord Carrington. He boasted he could federate the colonies in 12 months and Carrington dared him to do so.
Parkes telegraphed the other premiers on 15 October 1889 suggesting a conference about a new constitution and travelled to Brisbane to talk with Queensland colleagues. On his return south, Parkes stopped in Tenterfield, where the local population had returned him to Parliament after he lost his East Sydney seat in the 1882 colonial election. The unfederated nature of the colonies was particularly concerning for Tenterfield. Being near the Queensland border meant its trade was hindered by high tariffs. And because rural towns contributed men and equipment to military units the colony was raising, defence discussions also affected Tenterfield.
Speaking at the Tenterfield School of Arts on 24 October 1889, Parkes made the first direct appeal to the public for Federation, arguing it would enable the colonies’ militias to unite as a single army under the command of a national government and would enable Australia’s railway gauges to be of a uniform width. As a first step towards Federation he recommended a convention be held comprising delegates from each colony to draft a constitution. “I believe that the time has come, and if two Governments set an example, the others must soon of necessity follow,” he said. “The opportunity has arisen for the consideration of this great subject and I believe that the time is at hand… when this thing will be done. Indeed, this great thing will have to be done, and to put it off will only tend to make the difficulties which stand in the way greater.” Parkes presented a similar address 15 times in different locations during the next nine months. His campaign was successful, and Australia became a federated nation on 1 January 1901.