 |
 |
Contemporary sources - The Observer
1882-1884 | 1885-1887 | 1888-1889 | 1890-1892 | 1893-1894 | 1895 | 1896 | 1897 | 1898 | 1899 | 1900 | 1901
| 1885 | |
| Observer 14
March 1885 p. 30 col. D. 'German annexation in New Guinea.' 'Great indignation was produced in all the Australian Colonies by this announcement, as it was considered this territory had been lost to us by the inactivity and indifference of the Colonial Secretary . . . a compromise has been arranged . . . that is equivalent to a concession to Germany.' |
|
| Observer 2
May 1885 p. 25 cols. A,B. 'South Australia and the impending war.' [Between England and Russia.] 'South Australia does not see her way to assist in wars in foreign parts, but she is resolved to resist the invader to the death . . .' p. 33 cols. A-D. 'The defences of the colonies. South Australia.'; 'Measures for our protection.' |
|
| Observer 15
August 1885 p. 24 col. E; p. 25 col. A. 'The Australian Federal Council Bill.' 'The Bill for enabling any four or more of the Australasian colonies to join in the establishment of a Federal Council has been finally passed by the Imperial Parliament . . . For many reasons the measure is not one that can in its present form be regarded by South Australians with favour, but its adoption nevertheless marks an epoch in the annals of Australasian federation.' |
|
| Observer 3
October 1885 p. 24 cols. C-E. Editorial. 'The Federal Council Bill.' '. . . an Act for constituting a Federal Council of Australasia has been passed by the Imperial Parliament. It remains for this colony to say whether it will agree to come under the provisions of that measure, and how its representatives shall be elected . . . All we can do is to consider fairly what the Federal Council, should it ever be constituted, is likely to accomplish, and whether it is wise for us to join in the Union.' |
|
| Observer 24
October 1885 p. 24 cols. D,E. Editorial. 'Federation.' 'We shall not repeat what we have said before . . . the extraordinary constitution of the proposed Council, as to the excessive powers given to it in some directions, and as to the absurd restrictions placed upon it in others.' |
|
| 1886 | |
| Observer 30
January 1886 p. 24 cols. C-E. Editorial. 'The Federal Council.' '. . . attention must needs be commanded by the holding of the first Federal Council of Australasia . . . The Council, which now meets in Hobart, is federal only in name. Of the eight delegates present six only represent autonomous colonies. Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania . . . cannot compare for importance with New South Wales, New Zealand and South Australia. Fiji and West Australia, the two Crown colonies represented, are not at present worth considering in other than a numerical relation . . . And so, this Council cannot be held to represent Australasia . . . We may well be thankful, not out of any hostility to Federation itself, but out of distrust of the monstrous form of Federal representation provided, that South Australia is one of the colonies which holds itself aloof from the movement in its present form.' |
 |
| 1887 | |
| Observer 17
September 1887 p. 25 cols. A-C. 'Sir Henry Parkes and federation.' [Parkes visits South Australia; speech: '. . . the Federal Council, as at present constituted, must inevitably be a failure . . . the time for some practical form of federation has arrived . . . The true solution of the problem lies in a real Federal Parliament [based on representative government] . . . the sooner the politicians of this colony give up the "childish whim" of favouring a policy of hostility in fiscal matters, the better it will be, not only for South Australia, but in the interests of Australia as a whole.'] |
|
| p. 53 cols. D,E; p. 54 cols. A-E; p. 55 col. A. 'Visit of Sir Henry Parkes.' |
