This week, Roaming Roy and I decided that it would be appropriate to visit a site important to Federation. After all, the 1st of January is the anniversary of when Australia made the transition from individual states and territories to one unified nation! The question was, where to go? We could have done any one of a number of sites associated with Federation, but one stood out - Brooklyn and its Federation Foreshore walk and interpretive site (running through McKell Park).
Roy and I live close to Brooklyn in NSW, and yet many of the children, and even adults we know, don't realise that Brooklyn was where Sir Henry Parkes, the father of Australian Federation, gave his first speech about a united Australia, while on a pontoon just off Dangar Island. Dangar Island is the one Roy is pointing at in the picture above. Although other towns and places often claim the title, some suggest that Brooklyn is truly the birthplace of Australian Federation! In May 1889, the first Brooklyn Railway Bridge was opened with the first trains crossing the Hawkesbury River. This bridge united Australia in a very tangible way. For the first time, trains could travel all the way from the top to the bottom of Australia (or from the bottom to the top), with only breaks at the Victoria and Queensland borders for changes of railway line gauge. It was this which made the bridge such a symbol of a United Australia, and Sir Henry Parkes was quick to seize on this symbolism, charging the bridge with unifying Australia's Transport system, as he hoped the States would unify into a single united nation. If you look carefully, Roy and I are standing with a picture of Sir Henry Parks in the photograph below, and you might be able to see him. To learn more about the history of the Railway Bridges and their involvement in Federation click here or here.
This speech by Sir Henry Parkes isn't the only connection between the Hawkesbury and Federation though! In 1891 the Queensland Government owned ship, The Lucinda, spent a weekend cruising the Hawkesbury and mooring at Refuge Bay. On board were Sir Samuel Walker Griffith and Sir Edmund Barton, amongst others. Over the weekend they worked on the new Constitutional Bill, which was later to become the Australian Constitution. If you would like to learn more about the voyage of the Lucinda, click here.