How and why did Federation occur? The movement to Federation At the end of the 1800s, Australia was divided into six separate colonies instead of being one nation. But people had been talking for years about whether Australia should be one nation, and in the 1890s a series of meetings (called conventions or conferences) was held to discuss federation of the colonies. The Premier of New South Wales, Sir Henry Parkes, had announced in 1889 that …showed first 75 words of 3150 total…

…showed last 75 words of 3150 total…anti-suffragist movement dwelt upon the supposed defects of intellect and temperament. Images of women politicians in the media attempted to portray women as absorbed with the trivial and domestic, and as emotional, selfish, and bad mothers. Anti-suffragists argued that women were too emotional and lacked broader political vision. They attempted to picture politics as unsuitable for women. Australian women were often depicted in the popular press as weak, and intellectually incapable of political decision making.