Centenary of Federation Victoria: Federation Documents ONLINE

In a gesture commemorating the 'birthday' of the Commonwealth of Australia, Britain 'gave' British New Guinea to Australia as a Federation present. Although defence had been considered so important prior to Federation, a report published in the Commonwealth Parliamentary Papers in 1910 listed the deficiencies of the Australian forces. The author of the report, Lord Kitchener, concluded that, considering Australia's location, isolation and vast uninhabited territory, there were not enough troops, training or munitions; and that the problem of different gauges made the railways more useful to an invading enemy than to an Australian defence force. Immediate action to properly train and equip 80,000 troops was recommended based on the Defence Bill of 1909 which provided for the formation of a National Citizen Force.

When Sir John Forrest (the Minister for Defence) introduced the Defence Act to the House of Representatives on 16 July 1903 he said: "During the past two years great difficulty has been experienced in administering the Defence Department because we have had to administer it under six separate State Acts. We desire to overcome that difficulty by providing a consolidated Defence Act which shall govern the whole of the forces of the Commonwealth."

Gordon Greenwood & Charles Grimshaw (eds), Documents on Australian International Affairs 1901-1918, Thomas Nelson, Melbourne, 1977, p. 230.

30. The Defence Force shall consist of the Naval and Military Forces of the Commonwealth, and shall be divided into two branches called the Permanent Forces and the Citizen Forces.
31.-(1). The Permanent Forces shall consist of offices who are appointed officers of those Forces, and of soldiers, petty officers, and sailors who are bound to continuous naval or military service for a term.
(2). No Permanent Military Forces shall be raised, maintained or organized except for Administrative and Instructional Staffs, including Army Service, Medical and Ordnance Staffs, Garrison Artillery, Fortress Engineers, and Submarine Mining Engineers.
32.-(1). The Citizen Forces shall be divided into Militia Forces, Volunteer Forces and Reserve Forces.
(2). The Militia Forces shall consist of officers, soldiers, petty officers, and sailors who are not bound to continuous naval or military service and who are paid for their services as prescribed.
(3). The Volunteer Forces shall consist of officers, soldiers, petty officers, and sailors who are not bound to continuous naval or military service and who are not ordinarily paid for their services in times of peace.
(4). The Reserve Forces shall consist of-
(a) Members of Rifle Clubs …; and
(b) Persons who, having served in the Active Forces or otherwise as is prescribed, are enrolled as members of the Reserved Forces.

35. Except as provided in Part IV of this Act the Defence Force shall be raised and kept up by voluntary enlistment only.

59. All male inhabitants of Australia (except those who are exempt from service in the Defence Force) who have resided therein for six months and are British subjects and are between the ages of eighteen and sixty years shall, in time of war, be liable to serve in the Militia Forces.

Defence Act 1903 (No. 20 of 1903) Sections 30-36, 45-50, 53 -56, 59., cited in Gordon Greenwood & Charles Grimshaw (eds), Documents on Australian International Affairs 1901-1918, Thomas Nelson, Melbourne, 1977, pp. 226-227, 229.

Billy Hughes (Labor MP) made a speech on 5 August 1903, moving an amendment to the above Act which foreshadowed the introduction of compulsory military training in the Defence Act of 1909. He said:

"My amendment provides that all males between 18 and 21 years shall be called upon to present themselves for fourteen days' training in each year. These men number, according to the information furnished by the Government Statistician, about 108,000, of which we may presume that about 100,000 would be at our call … The system which I propose would not be open to the danger of creating a caste; it would have none of the objections that attach to conscription; it would not impose a grievous burden on the people, but, on the other hand, it would have all the good effects that relate to a system of compulsory drill …"

Extracts from a speech by Mr. W. M. Hughes (Labor), 5 August 1903 C.P.D., Vol. XV, 1903, pp. 3093, 3094, 3096, 3097, 3098, cited in Gordon Greenwood & Charles Grimshaw (eds), Documents on Australian International Affairs 1901-1918, Thomas Nelson, Melbourne, 1977, p. 231.

Caption: AUSTRALIA to the new PRIME MINISTER: "PLAY THAT ONE. IT'S THE WINNING CARD."
Our Honorary Artist (Mr. Norman Lindsay) has been particularly happy in his treatment of the subject of the cartoon in this issue. Whilst it is clear that a self-respecting sound system of National Defence based on universal training, is a winning card for Mr. Fisher and his Ministry to play, it must not be overlooked that, in the present temper of the people of Australia, it would be an equally strong card for any other party in office which had the courage to play it. But it is a card that must be played at once.

The Call, Journal of the Australian National Defence League (N.S.W. Division), No. 11, February 1909, pp. 1-2.

This checklist of arguments in favour of air defence highlights some of the deficiencies in other areas of Australia's defence strategy, and the mounting concerns about Japan. It comes from the journal Lone Hand.

Australia is, in respect of population, one of the smallest nations bordering on the Pacific.
Australia possesses the largest territory of any nation bordering on the Pacific.
Australia has passed legislation debarring the free entry of the teeming populations a few weeks' steam away.
Australia's navy is quite inadequate to protect her coasts from raid, invasion, or a so-called 'peaceful penetration' by a foreign Pacific Power.
Australia's army is not yet big enough, well-trained enough, or well-armed enough to repel even a raid.
Australia possesses only the foundation of arms or ammunition factories.
Australia has taken no steps to provide for the manufacture of big guns.
Australia's long coast line is not defended by fortresses modern enough to give check to an invading force.
Germany is making preparations for the inevitable conflict with Great Britain.
Great Britain is too busy looking to her own defence to spare a sufficient fleet to protect those parts of the Empire that will not protect themselves.
Japan's dominant idea, as evidenced by the continued increase in her army and navy since the Russo-Japanese war, is to control the Pacific.
She is forced onwards to this consummation by a train of causes which she cannot hold in check – the chief of which is the necessity for her own defence. Japan's annual naval budget has risen from £5,600,000 in 1905 to £21,000,000 in 1908.
The Anglo-Japanese Alliance expires in 1915.