1900 - The Impending Eclipse of the Colonial Governor of New South Wales

Abstract

While political progress towards the Constitution Bill in the 1890s sought to provide authority to bind the Australian colonies into a federal union, the Colonial Premiers were clamouring to assert their influence within the new Commonwealth from 1st January 1901. The States had succeeded in preserving a position for themselves of ‘sovereignty within their sphere’ and a prime consideration was to establish the status and salary of the Governors in this new era. Additionally, as the Constitution provided that the Federal Government would be temporarily located in Melbourne, the Premier of New South Wales visualised that the authority of this State could not be maintained after federation. This paper explores the free space outside the Constitution that created an opportunity for the State to regain its recognised supremacy as the mother colony from pre-federation days. It also reveals how the last Colonial Governor, Lord Beauchamp, was destined to endure the political manoeuvres of the Premier, Sir William Lyne, as he sought a leading role for the State in the celebration of Federation and recognition of its influence in federal matters thereafter. How far was the Governor prepared to yield to the Premier’s ambitions and what should he expect from a subordinate position to the Governor General? Concurrent with State Government concerns about gaining a dominant position in a federal union, the future of the imperial relationship had to be established when the status and living standards of the Governor were downgraded.