Nationhood

Tenterfield Oration

24 October 1889

Sir Henry Parkes’ call for the Australian colonies to unite sparks the movement towards Federation. 

At a banquet held in his honour, Sir Henry Parkes, Premier of New South Wales, gave a rousing address calling for a 'great national government for all Australians'. The Tenterfield Oration helped spark the imagination of the people of Tenterfield, NSW, and in the other colonies.

Parkes explained the time had come for the 6 self-governing British colonies to unite. He believed a national government would be better able to deal with issues such as defence, immigration and trade. As Parkes said later, the colonists were already united by 'the crimson thread of kinship [that] runs through us all.'

The great question … was, whether the time had not now arisen for the creation on this Australian continent of an Australian Government … The thing would have to be done, and to put it off would only tend to make the difficulties which stood in the way greater.
Report of Sir Henry Parkes’ Tenterfield Oration, The Sydney Morning Herald, 25 October 1889.
'Sir Henry Parkes at Tenterfield', The Sydney Morning Herald, 25 October 1889.

Sydney Morning Herald, 25 October 1889

Sydney Morning Herald, National Library of Australia,

Sydney Morning Herald, 25 October 1889

'Sir Henry Parkes at Tenterfield', The Sydney Morning Herald, 25 October 1889.

Sydney Morning Herald, National Library of Australia,

Description

A newspaper article called "Sir Henry Parkes at Tenterfield" published in the Sydney Morning Herald, 25 October 1889. The article is about then Premier of New South Wales Sir Henry Parkes arriving at Tenterfield where he delivered a speech which became known as the Tenterfield Oration.

View newspaper article and transcript in Trove

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