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| 1879 |
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| Organization of the first trade union congress. Unions had existed for some years previously and had embarked upon a widespread agitation for the eight-hour day (one of many points borrowed from the Chartists who had come to Australia after 1848). The unions became powerful factors in New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. | 1 |
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| 1880, June 26–28 |
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| Siege of Glenrowan, ending in the deaths of three of the Kelly gang of bushrangers. The leader, Ned Kelly, was hanged in Melbourne on Nov. 11. | 2 |
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| 1883–84 |
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| THE NEW GUINEA CRISIS. The Queensland government, uneasy about German designs, offered to assume the administration of the island if the home government would annex it. On April 3, 1883, the Queensland government, exasperated by delay in London, proclaimed possession, but was disavowed by London. Other colonies joined in the agitation for action. Ultimately, when the home government decided to act, the Germans had already laid claim to the northeastern part, leaving to the British (annexation, Nov. 6, 1884) only the southeastern part. This danger at the door appears to have had much to do with furthering the sentiment for federation in Australia. | 3 |
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| 1883, Aug. 21 |
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| Opening of the Sydney-Melbourne railway line. | 4 |
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| 1883, Dec |
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| An intercolonial conference in Sydney considered the possibility of federation of the colonies. The idea had been put forward long before by William C. Wentworth and was ardently championed by Sir Henry Parkes, the eminent statesman of New South Wales. Homogeneity of race, common tradition, and the needs of defense favored some sort of union, but the colonies were jealous of their independence and in many respects downright hostile to each other. | 5 |
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| 1885 |
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| Victoria established wages boards, empowered to fix wages in sweated industries. These boards, composed of employers and employees, with a neutral chairman, were given extensive powers to regulate entire industries. A daring experiment in labor relations, the system was gradually adopted by other colonies (beginning in 1908) under pressure of the labor parties. | 6 |
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| March 3 |
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| New South Wales sent 700 troops to the Sudan. This was Australia's first entry into foreign war. | 7 |
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