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Australia and Colonies - Overview

1850 - 1913

In addition to the six states there are two territories, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory, which have never issued stamps of their own. The total population around 1860 probably did not exceed 1.2 million.

In 1901 the population of Australia numbered around 3,8 million. In 2003 it amounts to about 19.8 million.

On January 1, 1901 the Commonwealth of Australia was officially formed. Melbourne was chosen as the temporary seat of government while a purpose-designed capital city, Canberra, was constructed. Construction began in 1913, but it wasn’t until May 9, 1927 that the temporary parliament building was officially opened.

Canberra is wholly surrounded by New South Wales. The Jervis Bay Territory is another federal enclave on the coast of N.S.W., giving Canberra access to the sea. The initial inhabitants of the capital were 1,714 people, 1,762 cows, and 224,764 sheep.

It's thought that the name Canberra is based on an Aboriginal name for the area: Kamberra or Kambery, or even Corroboree, meaning "meeting place". A corroboree is a traditional Aboriginal song and dance ceremony.

Australia became officially autonomous in both internal and external affairs with the passage of the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act on October 9, 1942. The Australia Act in 1986 eliminated the last vestiges of British legal authority at the Federal level. The last state to remove recourse to British courts, Queensland, did not do so until 1988.

Click a link below to view the page.
1850
January 1	12	New South Wales
January 3	14	Victoria
1853
November 1	48	Tasmania
1854
August 1	51	Western Australia
1855
January 1	53	South Australia
1860
November 1	91	Queensland
1913
January 1	440	Commonwealth of Australia

The six colonies that now constitute the states of Australia were established as follows:
Colony	Capital	Year established	Population
New South Wales	Sydney	1788	1860:	348,546
Tasmania (Van Diemen’s Land)	Hobart	1825	1870:	100,765
Western Australia	Perth	1830	1860:	15,227
South Australia	Adelaide	1836	1860:	124,112
Victoria	Melbourne	1851	1860:	537,847
Queensland	Brisbane	1859	1861:	34,400

To be precise, Australian Colony stamps are those issued prior to 1901, Australian State stamps are those issued between 1901 and 1913. However, the term Australian State is often used to mean both.

The individual states set their own postal rates, but they mostly had agreements for a common rate for mail between the states. Only the lucrative local mail rates differed.

As of May 1, 1911 a flat rate for ½ ounce letters was introduced, at one penny. This rate was valid not only within Australia, but within the entire British Empire!