| Date | Event |
| 26 Nov. 1883 | Australasian Inter-Colonial Conference, Sydney, November-December, to consider the subjects of (1) annexation of neighbouring islands [the Queensland adventure in New Guinea] and (2) the federation of Australasia. Six Australian Colonies, New Zealand and Fiji present. Outcome was: |
| 14 Aug 1885 | Federal Council of Australasia Act (UK) becomes law. |
| Sept.-Oct. 1885 | Western Australia, Fiji, Queensland, Tasmania and Victoria (in that order) pass adopting Acts. |
| 25 Jan.-5 Feb. 1886 | Inaugural Session of Federal Council (at Hobart)-a weak, limited legislative, non-executive body. Without New South Wales, New Zealand and (except in 1889) South Australia. Met mainly biennially and faded out after January 1899 meeting. |
| 16-20 Jan. 1888 | Second Session, Federal Council; Fiji gone. |
| 29 Jan. -4 Feb. 1889 | Third Session, Federal Council; South Australia present. |
| 9 Oct. 1889 | Major-General Sir J. Bevan Edwards (UK) by invitation reports on defences of Australian Colonies and presses recommendation for federation at least of defence and defence arrangements. |
| 1889 | Parkes corresponds confidentially with Victorian Premier Duncan Gillies, urging Federal Parliament and Executive. Gillies unresponsive, suggesting New South Wales should join Federal Council and use it as route for advances towards Federalism. |
| 24 Oct. 1889 | Parkes's Tenterfield Speech, based on defence considerations for federation urged by Edwards. Calls for Covention. Gillies sceptical. |
| 6 Feb. 1890 | Melbourne Conference on Federation: Seven Australasian Colonies. |
| 20-23 Jan. 1891 | Fourth Session, Federal Council; South Australia gone. |
| 2 March 1891 | First National Australasian Convention convened at Parliament House, Sydney. Delegates elected from and by seven Colonial Parliaments attended. Parkes (NSW) President, Griffith (Qld) his Deputy. |
| 9 Apr. 1891 | Convention dissolved after adopting without division a draft Commonwealth Constitution Bill for reference to the seven Colonial Parliaments in first instance. [Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania gave the Bill consideration, adopting some amendment suggestions. New South Wales dragged out consideration. Queensland, Western Australia and New Zealand sat tight. All wanted New South Wales (after its default on the Federal Council) to 'show willing', which it failed to do and the effort in that Colony's Parliament petered out by October December 1893.] |
| 26 Jan. -3 Feb. 1893 | Fifth Session. Federal Council. |
| 1893 | Saw Popular (extra-Parliamentary) Federation Movement take initiative through ANA, Australasian Federation Leagues, etc. |
| 3 July 1893 | Australasian Federation League formed in Sydney Town Hall meeting (Edmund Barton now recognized as 'Federal Leader in place of Parkes; Edward Dowling, Principal Hon. Sec. of the AFL). Leagues were already formed in the Murray Valley. Now they were formed around Victoria and in August 1895 in Adelaide, in July 1898 Brisbane, in July 1899 even in Auckland, New Zealand. |
| 31 July-1 Aug 1893 | Corowa Federation Conference (Border Federation Leagues, ANA, etc. sponsor and attend). John Quick (Bendigo) proposed and carried scheme for popularly-elected Australasian Convention, with referendum afterwards, to vote on the resultant Draft Bill. [Delegates listed in Quick and Garran, pp. 255-7.] |
| 22 May 1894 | Speech by Premier George Dibbs (NSW) at Tamworth propounding scheme for virtual unification (on grounds including rationalization and economy) as preferable to federation. This he enlarged on in long letter to Premier Sir James Patterson (Victoria) on 12 June 1894, proposing that (failing the others) New South Wales and Victoria unify for a start and draw others in. (In earlier days both Robertson and Parkes had talked much more like unificationists at times than Parkes now did.) |
| 3 Aug. 1894 | Reid Ministry in New South Wales |
| 30 Jan. - 1 Feb. 1895 | Sixth Session, Federal Council. |
| 29 Jan.-6 Feb. 1895 | Premiers' Conference in Hobart on Reid's initiative, where he successfully put forward something akin to the Quick (Corowa) Plan and Turner and Kingston overnight provided a matching model Enabling Bill. Forrest (WA) was not present at the 6 February sitting and hence uncommitted; Nelson (Qld) reserved position about reference to the people. |
| 1895-96 | Colonies of Australia pass Enabling Acts for election of delegates to another Convention:
SA Bill assented to 20 Dec. 1895
NSW Bill assented to 23 Dec. 1895
Tas. Bill assented to 10 Jan. 1896
Vic. Bill assented to 7 Mar. 1896
WA Bill provided for Parliamentary selection of its delegates, with Parliament to decide afterwards whether Draft Bill should go to people. Assented to Oct. 1896.
Qld was unwilling to pass Enabling Bill. |
| Nov. 1896 | People's Federal Convention (unofficial) arranged by Australasian Leagues and others, at Bathurst: 200 delegates and distinguished list of speakers from Premier Reid to Cardinal Moran. [For delegates see Quick and Garran, pp. 257-60] |
| 26-29 Jan. 1897 | Seventh Session, F'ederal Council. |
| 4 Mar. 1897 | Elections in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania for ten delegates each to Second Convention. In same month (13 March) the two Houses of the West Australian Parliament elected its ten. |
| 22 Mar. 1897 | Second National Convention. Adelaide Session opens. (WA members arrived four days late.) Kingston President and Barton Leader. Concluded business of Session on 23 April 1897, and draft Bill referred to Colonial Parliaments for consideration before Convention re-convenes. |
| 2 Sept. 1897 | Sydney Session opens-for further consideration of draft Bill and 286 amendments sent forward for consideration from the ten chambers of the five subscribing Parliaments. Convention again adjourned on 24 September 1897. |
| 20 Jan. 1898 | Melbourne Session opens. Bill completed and referred to the Colonies for referendums. Convention concluded 17 March 1898. |
| 28 Mar. 1898 | Premier Reid's 'Yes-No' Speech in Sydney Town Hall. |
| 3 June 1898 | Referendums in New South Wales,Victoria and Tasmania. |
| 4 June 1898 | Referendum in South Australia. |
| [above] | (Majorities in all, but 'Yes' vote of 80,000 not reached in New South Wales) |
| 27 July 1898 | New South Wales General Elections: Reid and allies narrowly returned. |
| Aug.-Sept. 1898 | New South Wales Parliament considers 'necessary' amendments to the draft Bill. |
| 24-27 Jan. 1899 | Eighth and Final Session, Federal Council. |
| 29 Jan.-2 Feb. 1899 | Premiers' Conference (George Reid, NSW; George Turner, Vic.: J. R. Dickson, Qld; C. C. Kingston, SA; John Forrest, WA; E. N. C. Braddon, Tas.) meets in Melbourne to consider the Bill, and amendments requested by at least three Colonies. Seven amendments accepted; others rejected. |
| 29 Apr. 1899 | South Australia carries Bill at Referendum. |
| 20 June 1899 | New South Wales carries Bill comfortably. |
| 27July 1899 | Victoria and Tasmania carry Bill. |
| 2 Sept. 1899 | Queensland carries Bill. |
| 19 Sept. 1899 | Joint Select Committee of WA Parliament reports in favour of Bill subject to four amendments. |
| 22 Dec. 1899 | Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain invites eastern Colonies to send delegation to London to discuss the Bill. |
| Jan. 1900 | Premier Forrest (WA) visits eastern Colonies to seek his amendments. No success. |
| 24-27 Jan. 1900 | Premiers' Conference in Sydney to consider Chamberlain's invitation. Delegation arranged. All six Colonies sending delegates-the WA man as a sort of 'outrider'. W. P. Reeves (NZ) was in London and could watch New Zealand's interests. |
| 15 Mar. 1900 | London. First session of discussions with Chamberlain and Co. |
| 5 Apr. 1900 | Conference at Colonial Office under Chamberlain. All seven Colonies represented for part of the discussion. |
| 19-21 Apr. 1900 | Premiers' Conference, Melbourne, to consider messages from Chamberlain and from Australian delegates. The New Zealand requests for amendments (notably that door should be left open to come in later on 'original States terms if she got round to seeing virtue (or advantage) in joining). |
| 14 May 1900 | Chamberlain introduces Bill to Commons. |
| 17 May 1900 | WA Parliament convened to consider Enabling Bill for a referendum. Bill assented to 13 June. |
| 9 July l 900 | Queen Victoria gives Royal Assent to Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, complete with compromise on Judicial Committee appeals, and five-year concession to Western Australia on customs duty uniformity should that Colony join up. |
| 31 July 1900 | Western Australia Referendum: big majority (mainly from goldfields) for the Act. |
| 17 Sept. 1900 | Queen proclaims the Act and declares it operative from 1 January 1901. |
| 1 Jan. 1901 | First Governor-General (Hopetoun), in presence of first Commonwealth (Barton) Cabinet, inaugurates the Commonwealth in Sydney. |
| 9 May 1901 | Duke of York (later George V) opens First Commonwealth Parliament in temporary Capital (Melbourne). |