COMMITTEE. (Hansard, 30 April 1885)

THE EARL OF CARNARVON

said, the House would remember the general substance of the discussion which took place the other evening on this Bill, and that the question at issue turned upon the adhesion of certain Australian Colonies to the 31st clause of the Bill; but since the second reading a very important Paper had been laid on the Table of the House. He had been criticized in a public paper for having said that the Colony of New South Wales had expressed its adhesion to this 31st clause, and had refused to enter the Union unless it were retained. The exact position was that neither New South Wales nor New Zealand had expressed any formal opinion on the subject. He thought that it was understood that if that clause did not remain a portion of the Bill there was no probability that either of those Colonies would come in. There was another very important point in the matter. His statement the other night was that there were four Colonies — Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, and Tasmania—in favour of the omission of that clause, and that two Colonies — New South Wales and New Zealand—were in favour of its retention. But from the Paper to which he had alluded he gathered that South Australia had expressed an opinion in favour of the retention of the clause. On the 17th of April a telegram arrived from the Governor of South Australia in which he said the Government there were satisfied with the Amendments agreed upon, one of which Amendments was the insertion of this particular clause. That was a very important matter, because, in the first place, it would be noticed that instead of there being four Colonies adverse to the clause and two favourable to it, there were three in favour and three adverse to it; and, secondly, in the 30th clause of the Bill it was expressly provided that the consent of four 1084 Colonies should be required in order to make a Confederation, and the result would be that no confederation under the Bill might take place, which was greatly to be deplored. The precise position of the Australian Colonies was that Victoria, Queensland, and Tasmania were all in favour of the omission of this clause, and New South Wales and New Zealand required to give the matter more consideration, and, in fact, declined to express any formal opinion. There was, he thought, on all sides of the House a desire to encourage to the utmost and to facilitate the union and federation of the Colonies, believing it to be highly desirable in all respects; but, on the other hand, the difficulties which appeared were many, the delicacy of the position was very great, and it required great delicacy of touch in order to carry the matter through successfully. Therefore, while he had endeavoured to correct his statement of the other night so as to bring it in accordance with the exact and precise state of the case, he still adhered to the opinion that it was, on the whole, best to retain the 31st clause in the Bill, as leading to the consummation they all desired—namely, the adoption of this Federation.