Becoming A City: Federal Government

Are you in favour of the proposed Federal Constitution Bill? 

YES / NO.

That was the question posed to electors of Ipswich and West Moreton in 1899.  A series of 'How to Vote' advertisements appeared in The Queensland Times newspaper prior to the Referendum held on 2nd September 1899.

On Referendum Polling Day, crowds gathered outside the Town Hall waiting for the results of the election.

Two separate referendums had been held to decide whether six British colonies were to be federated, and there were many people who were not sold on the idea at the outset, and some that never were.  These referendums were conducted in an ad hoc fashion and there was no common national polling day.  In fact, each colony ran its own ballot.  Queensland and Western Australia did not take part in the 1898 referendum as they had not passed an enabling act at the time.  The Australasian Federation Enabling Act for Queensland was adopted in 1899.

All colonies voted at a second Referendum after the Constitution had been amended at a Constitution Convention.  This time, all colonies voted in favour on five different polling dates.  South Australia voted on 29 April, New South Wales on 20 June, Victoria and Tasmania on 27 July and Queensland on 2 September 1899.  Western Australia passed an enabling Act and conducted a referendum on 31 July 1900.

On 17 September Queen Victoria proclaimed that the Commonwealth of Australia would become a Nation on 1 January 1901.  Four days later on 21 September, Lord Hopetoun was officially appointed the Governor-General of Australia.

Ipswich did not reflect the voting trend of the colony.  It was surrounded by the agricultural districts of the Fassifern, Lockyer and Brisbane Valleys, and had a manufacturing base to support.  The majority of residents believed that Federation would have a detrimental effect on the local economy. 

The vote in Ipswich on 2 September 1899 was a resounding NO, with the yes vote being 1193 and the no vote being 2968.

A visit by the Governor General

His Excellency, The Governor General, Lord Northcote visited Ipswich 24 July 1906 as part of a tour he was doing of Queensland.

Mayor Goleby negotiated for the Governor General to spend a few hours in Ipswich which included breakfast at the Palais Royal Hotel, a public address of welcome at the Town Hall, meeting children from the area and a visit to the railway workshops at North Ipswich.  The school children were arranged with the boys standing on the footpath outside St Paul's Church and the girls on the slope in the grounds of the church. A large crowd of adults gathered on the opposite side of the road.

The Governor General was pleased with the large number of students gathered and with their warm welcome. With the agreement of the Queensland Minister for Education, he granted the remainder of the day as a holiday.

To celebrate the visit the entrance to the railway was decorated, as was the entrance to the Town Hall. 

Strings of flags were also stretched overhead in Brisbane and Nicholas Streets, and some of the local business people went to a good deal of trouble to embellish the exterior of their premises, notably Messrs. Cribb and Foote and Messrs. T. C. Beirne and Co. [1]