Origins
Early proposals
Six colonies
Drafting a constitution
Declaration of the Commonwealth

Election
Conducting the first Federal election
Who could vote?
The election campaign

Opening
9 May 1901
The royal visit
Celebrations

Members
The first federal parliamentarians
Ministry of May, 1901
Edmund Barton

Work
Political parties
Legislative program
Relationship between the houses
Administration

The First Federal Election

Electing the first Commonwealth Parliament

The proclaiming of the Constitution on 1 January 1901 set in train the processes that called into being the first Commonwealth Parliament. It authorised the issue of rights for the election of the first House of Representatives and the first Senate.
Conducting the first federal election
Who could vote?
The election campaign