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At the Athenaeum
Club in the early 1880s Barton met and conversed with the Tasmanian
Attorney-General, Andrew Inglis Clark, a passionate spokesman for
an American model of Federation. It was not, however, until Barton
read reports in the press of the Tenterfield address Henry Parkes
gave to a meeting in the Sydney Town Hall that he gave his full
and unconditional commitment to Federation.
In March 1891
Barton proposed his blueprint for Federation at the National Australasian
Convention. He argued that an elected senate composed of State representatives
would effectively balance the powers between the States and a Federal
government. Barton also advocated an autonomous Australian legal
system, and the necessary abolition of the right of appeal to the
British Privy Council. Among others, the Victorian politician Alfred
Deakin was impressed by Barton’s speech.
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