REASONS FOR
There were many more reasons for not federating than for federating. However the much more convincing reasons came from those who wanted to federate. They believed federation was important, mainly to establish a solid defence, be able to trade between the states using a single railway system, and many born in Australia, now considered themselves to be Australian rather than English
÷THE RAILWAY SYSTEM - The Railway System was a problem for the states, and this was the main concern before Federation was decided upon. There were states, such as N.S.W and Victoria, who wanted to trade with each other in an efficient way, but because each colony had its own standard railway track width, this was difficult. Eg. N.S.W wants to trade goods, so it takes them to the Victorian border via Train. The NSW lines were 1435 mm wide, whilst the Victorian lines were 1600 mm wide.
English: An Australian Raven ( Corvus coronoides )...
English: Female Mallard duck (Anas platyrhynchos) ...
Federation SquareFederation would erase this problem, as one standard Australian line would be in place. And, as it happened, they kept the NSW width.
÷DEFENCE - Defence was the next major issue, and (although they didn't know it) World War I was to start in approximately 15 years. The 6 Colonies (NSW, Victoria, South Australia, QLD, WA and Tasmania) all had their separate defence systems, but if an attack came, these 6 navies would be useless against the powers of the Japanese.
Federation would solve all these problems, as one greater Australian Navy would be in place.
÷THE PEOPLE - Each colony had a rising population and the majority, bar ones who didn't care and had reason to disagree (see Reasons AGAINST Federation), believed that a federal government was more suited for the situation, for the reasons above
Also, many people considered themselves to be Australian, rather...