Dinner with the Founding Fathers

Everald Compton

Description

Few Australians have any awareness of how their nation was established on 1 January 1901 when six self-governing British colonies joined together as one nation.It was achieved after a dozen years of superb negotiations in which Federation conventions drafted and agreed on a splendid constitution which was approved by six colonial parliaments, six referendums in which ordinary Australians had their say, negotiations in London to have the British parliament gave its approval and finally gain the agreement of a difficult Queen Victoria who wanted the six colonies to become counties of England.Above all, it was achieved without violence, unlike their counterparts in USA.Everald Compton has now written a vivid account of it all as he creates a dinner held ten years after Federation in which the founding fathers relive the great political and legal battles they fought and the huge parochial attitudes they overcame to create a nation.It is one of those books which makes you stay awake to turn thenext page.More importantly, it will get you thinking about the changes that are needed to the Constitution 120 years after Federation to make it relevant to a hugely different and rapidly changing world.

Sujets

• Histoire
• Australasia

Informations

• Publié par: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Date de parution: 31 juillet 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781528918787
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Dinner with the Founding Fathers
Everald Compton
Austin Macauley Publishers
2020-07-31
Dinner with the Founding Fathers About the Author Dedication Copyright Information © Synopsis Foreword By Tony Windsor Creation, Crisis and Legacy The Call to Federation Book One The Anniversary Dinner Guests Visitors Eminent Absentees Absent Legends Historic Milestones on the Dinner Agenda Host A Quiet Drink in the Gun Room Powerful Duo Three Musketeers The Huge Shadow of Andrew Clark The ‘Also Ran’ The Man from Chile A Scottish Coal Miner Agenda The Guests Make an Entrance The Premiers The Believers The Judge and the Reformer The Bushman’s Champion The Prime Minister Drinks The Tenterfield Legend Affable Alfred Death of the Aristocrats Minister for Five Days Entrée Lucinda Sails into History Author of the Original Constitution The Great Negotiator Main New South Wales Votes Twice Free Settlers Have Their Say Radical Federalist Second Colony State of Isolation Kalgoorlie Saves the Day Workers Versus Capitalists Act of God Battle of Westminster Drinks at the Reform Club Capitalising on the Jubilee The Lure of a Republic Taking a Shot at Royalty Half Time Passionate Dissenter Aspirants Birth of Murdoch Media The Chief Justice Gets Political Dessert Hopeless Hopetoun Who Was Guilty? The Villain Was Affable Alfred Slippery Sam Is Slammed Tasmania Misses Out The Great Day Voters Have Their Say Royals Add Their Blessing Flaws in the Constitution Coffee, Tea, Chocolates, Port, Cigars How Successful Was Federation? Suffragettes ‘The Man in the Street’ Takes Over The Convict and the Australian Dream Goodnight Elusive Preamble Creating Small States Team Players Cheers for Toby Loner Confession of Slippery Sam How Do We Solve the Problem of the Senate? The Believers Continue the Good Fight Cheers for the Founders White Australia All Whites and All Blacks Forgotten Fijians Relentless Murdoch The Essential Giles Fisher Speaks for the Nation Jeannie Book Two Ninety Years Later Guests Visitors Towering Presence The Host The Importance of Taking Charge Drinks Arthur Phillip Chairman Zelman Examines John Kerr Sins of the Senate Creating More States Main Sins of the Fathers Indigenous Australia White Australia State Rights The Brits Coffee The Former Chief Justice Republic Who Is Eligible to Sit in Parliament? Changing the Constitution The Search for a Preamble Farewell The Historian Homeward Bound Ponsonby Old Soldiers Never Die Life Was Not Meant to Be Easy The Anonymous Barton Book Three Epilogue The Challenge Barton Bird Deakin Fisher Forrest Griffith Kingston Lyne Reid Watson Lucinda Cowen Fraser Whitlam Barwick and Clark Giants of History Book Four End Notes Followers of the Founding Fathers Books on the Founding Fathers Chats with the Greats A Great Australian Giant Malcolm’s Double Confession Memories Everald’s Preamble Constitution
About the Author
Everald Compton is an 88-year-old Australian who has for all of his life had a consuming interest in the history and politics of his homeland.
This has been highlighted by the success of his bestselling book THE MAN ON THE TWENTY DOLLAR NOTES which tells the inspirational life story of Flynn of the Inland, pioneer of the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
He is well known as the founder of National Seniors Australia, the largest community institution in the nation advocating the needs of older Australians, and as the founder of the Inland Railway project that will link Melbourne and Darwin.
He received the Order of Australia in 1992 for his services to the community and the Centenary Medal for his services to the Transport industry.
He is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Queensland and an Honorary Senior Fellow of the University of the Sunshine Coast.
He has served as an Elder of the Uniting Church for more than six decades and for half a century has been a regular visitor to the Australian Parliament where he has many personal friends among MP’s from all political parties.
In DINNER WITH THE FOUNDING FATHERS , he has vividly captured the drama and excitement that surrounded the creation of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901.
He lives in Brisbane with his wife Helen.
Dedication
Dedicated to Edmund Barton, the first Prime Minister of Australia.
Copyright Information ©
Everald Compton (2020)
The right of Everald Compton to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
Austin Macauley is committed to publishing works of quality and integrity. In this spirit, we are proud to offer this book to our readers; however, the story, the experiences, and the words are the author’s alone.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781528918428 (Paperback)
ISBN 9781528918787 (ePub e-book)
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published (2020)
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd
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London
E14 5LQ
Synopsis
Few Australians have any knowledge of how six independent British Colonies joined together to create the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 st January, 1901.
It had taken the Founding Fathers of Australia 13 years of constant and difficult negotiations among themselves and with the British Parliament to agree on a constitution for the new nation, hold referendums to approve it and convince Queen Victoria to sign off on it all.
There was high drama involved and much politics, all of which combine to provide a fascinating tale about the incredible people who achieved it all.
I have decided that, to capture the interest of modern Australians, it is best to tell the tale via an historical novel which is loyal to the facts of history and in keeping with the known character traits and political beliefs of those who made it happen.
So, I have assembled ten of the most influential men who made it all happen (alas, no women were allowed to take part in any of the negotiating conventions).
The Founding Fathers meet for dinner at the Melbourne Club on the evening of 1 st January, 1911, ten years to the day after Federation occurred.
It is hosted by the first Prime Minister, Edmund Barton. His guests are Samuel Griffith, Andrew Fisher, Alfred Deakin, George Read, William Lyne, Charles Kingston, John Forrest, Chris Watson and Stafford Bird.
Throughout the evening, they review their 13 years as nation builders and how the first decade of Federation had actually worked out. It is a compelling story.
Then, the book moves on another 90 years to when I have Zelman Cowen hosting a lunch in Sydney with Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser on the occasion of the Centenary of Federation. Cowen questions their actions in November 1975 when the coup to remove Whitlam as prime minister almost destroyed the work of the Founding Fathers who would never have approved of what was done that day.
The book concludes with factual accounts of the fascinating lives of the Founding Fathers after Federation so that readers can gain a clearer picture of the lives of these nation builders.
DINNER WITH THE FOUNDING FATHERS reads like a thriller as it tells the tale of one of the great events of world history.
EVERALD COMPTON
Foreword
By Tony Windsor
Australia’s political history, together with the lingering impacts of decisions made by previous generations and how they resonate today and shape the current debates about our future, is brought together in Everald Compton’s engrossing novel which he has called DINNER WITH THE FOUNDING FATHERS . The journey explores the political players and the structures developed to make Australia the modern nation it is today as seen through the eyes of a man who has known every prime minister since Menzies and walked the halls of power for over 60 years.
In the fascinating setting of a fictional dinner ten years after Australia became a federation, Everald has produced an exciting glimpse of the characters involved in forging our unique modern history. He traces the early efforts to unite the states, the debates, the arguments, the personal animosities and friendships formed by common purpose, as well as the all-pervading influence of England in the context of discussions these leaders may well have had at a reunion dinner.
Book One allows the reader to look past the portraits of bearded men and see them as real people with human strengths and frailties, their personal lives as well as their political lives and the extraordinary contribution they made to this nation. Rather than see these men as senior citizens, it highlights the relative youth of some of these ‘Fathers’ when they embarked on achieving their vision for one Australia rather than individual states.
It demonstrates the compromises that were made to overcome the feared dominance of New South Wales and the tactical skills as well as legal skills required in the writing of our constitution. Agreeing to have an equal number of senators from each state in the parliament, even though the populations were quite different, is a good example of what had to be done to achieve an outcome.
Everald, in Book Two, fast forwards 100 years after Federation to another fictional gathering where Gough Whitlam, Malcolm Fraser and Zelman Cowen, and their guests, look back on the achievements and failings of various governments. It embraces the 1975 Whitlam Dismissal and the crisis it created, while exploring the likely thoughts of the Founding Fathers on the use of the Constitution to dismiss an elected Government. The role of the Senate once again comes into focus with questio